Insertion reactions of phenyl isocyanate into hafnium nitrogen bonds: synthesis and reactivity of hafnium complexes bearing substituted pyrrolyl ligands

A bis(diethylamido)hafnium compound [C4H3N(CH2NMe2)-2]2Hf(NEt2)2 (1) has been prepared in 79% yield by reacting Hf(NEt2)4 with 2 equiv. of [C4H3NH(CH2NMe2)-2] in heptane via deamination. Reacting compound 1 with 2 equiv. of phenyl isocyanate at room temperature in diethyl ether results in the PhNCO being inserted seletively into hafnium–NEt2 bonds to generate [C4H3N(CH2NMe2)-2]2Hf[PhNC(NEt2)O]2 (2) in 56% yield. Similarly, while reacting 1 with 2 equiv. of phenyl isocyanate for a week in toluene produces a mixture of 2 and [C4H3N(CH2NMe2)-2]Hf[PhNC(NEt2)O]3 (3). For comparison, reacting Hf(NEt2)4 with 4 equiv. of PhNCO in a toluene solution at room temperature results in the PhNCO inserted into Hf–N bonds, and forms a tetrakis-ureato hafnium compound Hf[PhNC(NEt2)O]4 (4) in 88% yield. A theoretical calculation found that the unpaired electrons of the ureato fragments of 2 are resonance delocalized between the C–O, C–NPh, and C–NEt2 bonds, which are all partially doubly bonded.