Cyclopentadienyl and tris(pyrazolyl)hydroborate have found much use as supporting ligands in the chemistry of titanium, zirconium and hafnium, especially with respect to applications involving olefin polymerization catalysis. In contrast, closely related tris(1-alkyl-2-mercaptoimidazolyl)hydroborate, [TmR], ligands have so far found little application to the chemistry of these elements, despite the fact that such ligands are currently used extensively in coordination chemistry. In view of the fact that a substituent in the 2-position exerts a direct influence on the steric environment of the metal center, we report here the application of the sterically demanding tris(1-tert-butyl-2-mercaptoimidazolyl)hydroborate [Tm^{{\rm Bu}^{\rm t}}] ligand to these metals. Dichlorido(η5-cyclopentadienyl)[tris(1-tert-butyl-2-sulfanylidene-2,3-dihydro-1H-imidazol-3-yl)borato-κ3S,S′,H]zirconium(IV) benzene hemisolvate, [Zr(C21H34BN6S3)(C5H5)Cl2]·0.5C6H6, (I), dichlorido(η5-cyclopentadienyl)[tris(1-tert-butyl-2-sulfanylidene-2,3-dihydro-1H-imidazol-3-yl)borato-κ3S,S′,H]titanium(IV) benzene hemisolvate, [Ti(C21H34BN6S3)(C5H5)Cl2]·0.5C6H6, (II), [bis(1-tert-butyl-2-sulfanylidene-2,3-dihydro-1H-imidazol-3-yl)borato-κ3S,S′,H]dichlorido(η5-cyclopentadienyl)zirconium(IV), [Zr(C14H24BN4S2)(C5H5)Cl2], (III), (1-tert-butyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-imidazole-2-thione-κS)(1-tert-butyl-2-sulfanylidene-1H-imidazol-3-ido-κ2N3,S)dichlorido(η5-cyclopentadienyl)zirconium(IV) benzene monosolvate, [Zr(C7H11N2S)(C7H12N2S)(C5H5)Cl2]·C6H6, (IV), and tribenzyl[tris(1-tert-butyl-2-sulfanylidene-2,3-dihydro-1H-imidazol-3-yl)borato-κ3S,S′,S′′]hafnium(IV) benzene tetrasolvate, [Hf(C7H7)3(C21H34BN6S3)]·4C6H6, (V), have been structurally characterized by X-ray diffraction. The [Tm^{{\rm Bu}^{\rm t}}^{{\rm Bu}^{\rm t}}] ligand coordinates to Ti and Zr in Cp[κ3S2,H-Tm^{{\rm Bu}^{\rm t}}]MCl2[M = Zr, (I), and Ti, (II)] in a κ3S2,Hmode, while the benzyl compounds [Tm^{{\rm Bu}^{\rm t}}]M(CH2Ph)3[M = Zr and Hf, (V)] exhibit κ3S3coordination.
Using internal electrostatic fields to manipulate the valence manifolds of copper complexes
