Synthesis, Characterization, and Isomerization of trans- and cis-[CoCl2(1,2- or 1,3-diphosphine)2]+ and Related Complexes

Abstract
A number of new diphosphine complexes of cobalt(III), trans- and cis-[CoCl2(dmpe, dmpp, dbpe, or dpee)2]+, trans- and cis-[CoBr2(dmpe)2]+, trans- and cis-[CoCl(H2O)(dmpe)2]2+, trans-[Co(I2 or BrI)(dmpe)2]+, and [Co(CO3)(dmpp or dbpe)]+ have been prepared and characterized, where dmpe, dmpp, dbpe, and dpee denote 1,2-bis(dimethylphosphino)ethane, 1,3-bis(dimethylphosphino)propane, 1,2-bis(dibutylphosphino)ethane, and cis-1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethylene, respectively. The trans isomers of the dihalogeno complexes are stable to aquation, while the cis isomers release one of the halide ions in water fairly rapidly to yield cis-[CoX(H2O)(diphosphine)2]+ which isomerizes to the trans isomer on exposure of ultraviolet light. The cis-[CoCl2(diphosphine)2]+ complexes in methanol or ethanol solution isomerize to the trans isomer, and the rates were followed spectrophotometrically in the temperature range of 39.0–65.0 °C. The rates have a first-order dependence on the complex concentration. Both the ΔH\eweq and ΔS\eweq values for the isomerization increase in the order diphosphine=dmpe<dmpp<dbpe<dpee. This order coincides with the increasing order in cone angle of phosphine ligands, and suggests that the difference in rates among the complexes comes from a steric factor. Absorption spectra of all the complexes have been recorded and the results compared with those of the corresponding ethylenediamine complexes.

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