The synthesis and characterisation of di- and trinuclear vinylsilicon-(tertiary phosphine) complexes of platinum(0) and nickel(0)

Reaction of the platinum(0) complex [{Pt(eta-ViSiMe(2))(2)O}(2)(mu-ViSiMe(2))(2)O] with a bis- or tris-tertiary phosphine yields, by displacement of the bridging vinylsiloxane ligand, complexes featuring both a bridging phosphine and a terminal vinylsiloxane. The zinc reduction of [NiCl2(PPh3)(2)] in the presence of the vinylsilane Vi(2)SiMe(2) yields a dinuclear heteroleptic nickel(0) complex having a bridging vinylsilane. X-ray molecular structures of the complexes [{<(PT(LL))over bar>}(2)(dppe)], [{<(Pt(LL))over bar>}(3)(TRIPHOS)], [{<(Pt(LL))over bar>}(3)(TRIPHOS')] and [{Ni(mu-Vi(2)SiMe(2))(PPh3)}(2)] show a trigonal planar environment around the metal atoms and a chair conformation for the <(Pt(LL))over bar> units [LL = (eta-ViSiMe(2))(2)O, dppe = (Ph2PCH2), TRIPHOS = (Ph2PCH2)(3)CMe, TRIPHOS' = PhP(CH2CH2PPh2)(2)].