Exposing the hidden complexity of stoichiometric and catalytic metathesis reactions by elucidation of Mg-Zn hybrids

Studying seemingly simple metathesis reactions between ZnCl2 and (BuMgCl)-Bu-t has, surprisingly, revealed a much more complex chemistry involving mixed magnesium-zinc compounds that could be regarded as Mg-Zn hybrids. Thus, the reaction of equimolar amounts of ZnCl2 and tBuMgCl reveals the formation of the unprecedented mixed Mg-Zn complex [(THF)(4)Mg(mu-Cl)(2)Zn(Bu-t)(Cl)] (1), as a result of the co-complexation of the two anticipated exchange products of the metathesis. This magnesium zincate adopts a contacted ion-pair structure, closely related to Knochel's pioneering "Turbo" Grignard reagents. Furthermore, a second coproduct identified in this reaction is the solvent-separated mixed magnesium-zinc chloride complex [{Mg(THF)(6)}(2+){Zn2Cl6}(2-)] (3) that critically diminishes the amount of ZnCl2 available for the intended metathesis reaction to take place. In another surprising result, when the reaction is carried out by using an excess of 3 M equivalents of the Grignard reagent (closer to the catalytic conditions employed by synthetic chemists), solvent-separated magnesium trialkyl zincate [{Mg2Cl3(THF)(6)}(+){Zn(Bu-t)(3)}(-)] (4) is obtained that can be viewed as a model for the active species involved in the increasingly important organic transformations of Grignard reagents catalysed by ZnCl2. Furthermore, preliminary reactivity studies reveal that complex 4 can be used as an effective new reagent for direct Zn-I exchange reactions that allow the preparation and structural identification of the magnesium tris(aryl) zincate [{Mg2Cl3(THF)(6)}(+){Zn(p-Tol)(3)}(-)] (5) that represents the first example of complete 3-fold activation of a zincate in a Zn-I exchange reaction which, in turn, can efficiently be used as a precursor for Negishi cross-coupling reactions.