PAPER www.rsc.org/dalton | Dalton Transactions Insertion reactions of alkynes and organic isocyanides into the palladium–carbon bond of dimetallic Fe–Pd alkoxysilyl complexes†‡ Michael Knorr,* a,b Isabelle Jourdain, a Pierre Braunstein,* b Carsten Strohmann, c Antonio Tiripicchio d and Franco Ugozzoli d Received 19th July 2006, Accepted 18th September 2006 First published as an Advance Article on the web 18th October 2006 DOI: 10.1039/b610324c Insertion of MeO 2 C–CC–CO 2 Me (DMAD) into the Pd–C bond of the heterodimetallic complex [(OC) 3 F e{l-Si(OMe) 2 (O Me)}(l-dppm)Pd(dmba-C)] (2) (dppm = Ph 2 PCH 2 PPh 2 , dmba-C = metallated dimethylbenzylamine) and [(OC) 3 {(MeO) 3 Si}F e(l-dppm)Pd(8-mq-C,N)] (3) (8-mq-C,N = cyclometallated 8-methylquinoline) yielded the r-alkenyl complexes [(OC) 3 F e{l-Si(OMe) 2 (O Me)}(l-dppm)Pd{C(CO 2 Me)=C(CO 2 Me)(o-C 6 H 4 CH 2 NMe 2 )}](7) and [(OC) 3 F e{l-Si(OMe) 2 (O Me)}(l-dppm)Pd{C(CO 2 Me)=C(CO 2 Me)(CH 2 C 9 H 6 N)}](8), respectively. The latter afforded the adduct [(OC) 3 {(MeO) 3 Si}F e(l-dppm)Pd{C(CO 2 Me)=C(CO 2 Me)- (CH 2 C 9 H 6 N)}(CNBu t )] (9) upon reaction with 1 equiv. of Bu t NC. The heterodinuclear r-butadienyl complexes [(OC) 3 F e{l-Si(OMe) 2 (O Me)}(l-dppm)Pd{C(Ph)=C(Ph)C(CO 2 Me)=(CO 2 Me)(o-C 6 H 4 - CH 2 NMe 2 )}](11) and [(OC) 3 F e{l-Si(OMe) 2 (O Me)}(l-dppm)Pd{C(Ph)=C(CO 2 Et)C(Ph)=C(CO 2 Et)- (CH 2 C 9 H 6 N)}](13) have been obtained by reaction of the metallate K[Fe{Si(OMe) 3 }(CO) 3 (dppm-P)] (dppm = Ph 2 PCH 2 PPh 2 ) with [P dCl{C(Ph)=C(Ph)C(CO 2 Me)=C(CO 2 Me)(o-C 6 H 4 CH 2 NMe 2 )}] or [P dCl{C(Ph)=C(CO 2 Et)C(Ph)=(CO 2 Et)}(CH 2 C 9 H 6 N)], respectively. Monoinsertion of various organic isocyanides RNC into the Pd–C bond of 2 and 3 afforded the corresponding heterometallic iminoacyl complexes. In the case of complexes [(OC) 3 {(MeO) 3 Si} Fe(l-dppm)P d{C(=NR)(CH 2 C 9 H 6 N)}] (15a R = Ph, 15b R = xylyl), a static six-membered C,N chelate is formed at the Pd centre, in contrast to the situation in [(OC) 3 F e{l-Si(OMe) 2 (O Me)}(l-dppm)Pd{C(=NR)(o-C 6 H 4 CH 2 NMe 2 )}](14a R = o-anisyl, 14b R = 2,6-xylyl) where formation of a l-g 2 -Si–O bridge is preferred over NMe 2 coordination. The outcome of the reaction of the dimetallic alkyl complex [(OC) 3 F e{l-Si(OMe) 2 (O Me)}(l-dppm)PdMe] with RNC depends both on the stoichiometry and the electronic donor properties of the isocyanide employed for the migratory insertion process. In the case of o-anisylisocyanide, the iminoacyl complex [(OC) 3 F e{l-Si(OMe) 2 (O Me)}(l-dppm)Pd{C(= N-o-anisyl)Me}](16) results from the reaction in a 1 : 1 ratio. Addition of three equiv. of o-anisylisocyanide affords the tris(insertion) product [(OC) 3 F e{l-Si(OMe) 2 (O Me)}(l-dppm)Pd- {[C(=N-o-anisyl)] 3 Me}](18). After addition of a fourth equivalent of o-anisylNC, exclusive formation of the isocyanide adduct [(OC) 3 {(MeO) 3 Si}F e(l-dppm)Pd{[C(=N-o-anisyl)] 3 Me}(CN-o-anisyl)] (19) was spectroscopically evidenced. In the complex [(OC) 3 F e{l-Si(OMe) 2 (O Me)}(l-dppm)Pd{[C(=N- o-C 6 H 4 COCH 2 )] 2 Me}](20), the r-bound diazabutadienyl unit is part of a 12-membered organic macrocyle which results from bis(insertion) of 1,2-bis(2-isocyanophenoxy)ethane into the Pd–Me bond of the precursor complex [(OC) 3 F e{l-Si(OMe) 2 (O Me)}(l-dppm)PdMe]. In contrast, addition of two equivalents of tert-butylisocyanide to a solution of the latter afforded [(OC) 3 {(MeO) 3 Si}- F e(l-dppm)Pd{C(=NBu t )Me}(CNBu t )] (21) in which both a terminal and an inserted isocyanide ligand are coordinated to the Pd centre. In all cases, there was no evidence for competing CO substitution at the Fe(CO) 3 fragment by RNC. The molecular structures of the insertion products 8·CH 2 Cl 2 and 16·CH 2 Cl 2 have been determined by X-ray diffraction. a Laboratoire de Chimie des Mat´ eriaux et Interfaces, Universit´ e de Franche- Comt´ e, Facult´ e des Sciences et des Techniques, 16, Route de Gray, 25030, Besanc ¸on Cedex, France. E-mail: michael.knorr@univ-fcomte.fr b Laboratoire de Chimie de Coordination (UMR 7177 CNRS), Universit´ e Louis Pasteur, Institut Le Bel, 4 rue Blaise Pascal, F-67070, Strasbourg, France. E-mail: braunst@chimie.u-strasbg.fr c Institut f¨ ur Anorganische Chemie der Universit¨ at W¨ urzburg, Am Hubland, D-97074, W ¨ urzburg, Germany d Dipartimento di Chimica Generale ed Inorganica, Chimica Analitica, Chim- ica Fisica, Universit` a di Parma, via G. P. Usberti 17/A, I-43100, Parma, Italy Introduction The insertion of small molecules such as CO, isocyanides, imines, olefins, alkynes and SO 2 into palladium–carbon bonds represents † Dedicated to Prof. Dr Ulrich Schubert on the occasion of his 60th birthday. ‡Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: IR spectrum of [(OC) 3 {(MeO) 3 Si}F e(l-dppm)Pd(CNBu t ){C(=NBu t )Me}] 21. See DOI: 10.1039/b610324c 5248 | Dalton Trans., 2006, 5248–5258 This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2006