A twist on a classic scaffold: rational design of a new bimetallic platform

Abstract

Herein, we report the synthesis of a modular family of novel bimetallic tetraamidodiamine (tada) ligands, Li₄-R-tada (R = Me₃Si, ^tBuMe₂Si, and ⁱPr₃Si). These silylamido ligands display two distinct binding pockets whose steric profiles can be easily tuned by choice of the substituents on silicon. We also show that salt metathesis is a convenient route to install these new ligands on the early transition metals titanium(IV) and vanadium(III).