Reactivity of [HC{(C(Me)N(Dipp))}₂Ca{N(SiMe₃) ₂}(THF)] (Dipp = C₆H₃ⁱPr ₂-2,6) with C-H acids: Synthesis of heteroleptic calcium η⁵-organometallics

A series of heteroleptic calcium η⁵-C₅R ₅ cyclopentadienides supported by an N-Dipp (Dipp = 2,6- ⁱPr₂C₆H₃)-substituted β-diketiminate ligand have been synthesised by selective protonolysis of the readily available reagent [HC{(C(Me)N(Dipp))}₂Ca{N(SiMe ₃)₂}(THF)] with tetramethylcyclopentadiene, fluorene, indene or cyclopentadiene. No reaction was observed with pentamethylcyclopentadiene, presumably for steric reasons. The tetramethylcyclopentadienyl, fluorenyl and indenyl compounds were characterised by variable temperature ¹H NMR and X-ray crystallography. Each complex was found to exist as a mononuclear species both in solution and in the solid state and to be highly sterically crowded, as evidenced by the variable temperature NMR studies. DFT (B3LYP/LANL2DZ) calculations on the model complexes [CaH(C₅Me₄H)], [CaH(C₁₃H₉)] and [CaH(C₉H₇)] indicate that the precise structures of such heteroleptic compounds are a result of both stereoelectronic and steric influences. Attempts to isolate the unsubstituted cyclopentadienyl were unsuccessful, but resulted in the crystallographic analysis of the dimeric calcium siloxide [HC{(C(Me)N(Dipp))}₂Ca(μ-OSiMe₃)] ₂.