SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF GROUP-10 METAL-COMPLEXES WITH A NEW TRIFUNCTIONAL ETHER PHOSPHINE - THE X-RAY CRYSTAL-STRUCTURES OF BIS[BIS(2-ETHOXYETHYL)BENZYLPHOSPHINE]DICHLORONICKEL(II) AND BIS[BIS(2-ETHOXYETHYL)BENZYLPHOSPHINE]CHLOROPHENYLNICKEL(II)

The syntheses and characterizations of the new trifunctional ligand bis(2-ethoxyethyl) benzylphosphine (OPO; 1) and some new group 10 metal complexes are described. Reactions of this potentially hemilabile ligand with the nickel, palladium and platinum chlorides have been studied, resulting in isolation of the series, MCl(2)(OPO)(2), where M = Ni (2), Pd (3) or Pt (4). The X-ray crystal structure of 2 shows the metal to have a square planar trans arrangement with n(1)-bonding of the ligand through the phosphorus centre. Compounds 3 and 4 are also trans. The attempted formation of an oxygen/phosphorus chelate with nickel using NaBPh(4) resulted in the new complex trans-NiClPh(OPO)(2) (5), which has been shown to be square planar, with trans chloro and phenyl groups, by X-ray crystallography. The dibromo analogue of 2 has also been prepared (6), from which bromide abstraction has been attempted.