Rhodium(I) Pincer Complexes of Nitrous Oxide

Abstract

The synthesis of two well-defined rhodium(I) complexes of nitrous oxide (N2O) is reported. These normally elusive adducts are stable in the solid state and persist in solution at ambient temperature, enabling comprehensive structural interrogation by 15N NMR and IR spectroscopy, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. These methods evidence coordination of N2O through the terminal nitrogen atom in a linear fashion and are supplemented by a computational energy decomposition analysis, which provides further insights into the nature of the Rh–N2O interaction.