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Method Article
Line shape analysis of NMR spectra collected over a range of temperatures serves as a guide for the rearrangement of inner coordination-sphere atoms at a chiral, eight-coordinate, rhenium(V) polyhydride complex, ReH5(PPh3)2(sec-butyl amine). Line shape analysis is also used to determine the activation parameters ΔH‡, ΔS‡, and ΔG‡ for those atom rearrangements.
Dynamic solution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is the typical method of characterizing the dynamic rearrangements of atoms within the coordination sphere for transition metal polyhydride complexes. Line shape fitting of the dynamic NMR spectra can lead to estimates for the activation parameters of the dynamic rearrangement processes. A combination of dynamic 31P-{1H} NMR spectroscopy of metal-bound phosphorus atoms with dynamic 1H-{31P} NMR spectroscopy of hydride ligands may identify hydride ligand rearrangements that occur in conjunction with a phosphorus atom rearrangement. For molecules that exhibit such a coupled pair of rearrangements, dynamic NMR spectroscopy can be used to test theoretical models for the ligand rearrangements. Dynamic 1H-{31P} NMR spectroscopy and line shape fitting can also identify the presence of an exchange process that moves a specific hydride ligand beyond the metal's inner coordination sphere through a proton exchange with a solvent molecule such as adventitious water. The preparation of a new compound, ReH5(PPh3)2(sec-butyl amine), that exemplifies multiple dynamic rearrangement processes is presented along with line shape fitting of dynamic NMR spectra of the complex. Line shape fitting results can be analyzed by the Eyring equation to estimate the activation parameters for the identified dynamic processes.
NMR spectroscopy is commonly used to characterize dynamic processes that occur within or between molecules. For many simple intramolecular rearrangements, estimation of ΔG‡ is as straight-forward as measuring the frequency difference, Δν, between two resonances at the slow exchange limit and determining the coalescence temperature for those same resonances (Figure 1)1. The relationship,
ΔG‡ = 4.575 x 10-3 kcal/mol x Tc [9.972 + log (Tc/Δν)]
where Tc is the coalescence temperature for a pair of resonances that represent the slow exchange form of a dynamic sample, can be used to solve for the free energy of activation for such a dynamic rearrangement. More complex dynamic systems require line shape fitting of dynamic NMR spectra or another NMR technique such as two-dimensional exchange spectroscopy (2D-EXSY) or two-dimensional rotating-frame Overhauser effect spectroscopy (2D-ROESY) to estimate activation parameters.
Figure 1: NMR spectra for a d8-toluene solution of ReH5(PPh3)2(sec-butyl amine) at two temperatures. The frequency difference between the two slow exchange doublets (lower trace, 117.8 Hz) and a coalescence temperature of 250 K (upper trace) correspond to an energy barrier (ΔG‡) of 11.8 kcal/mol. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Line shape fitting of dynamic NMR spectra is a common technique that has long been used for the estimation of activation parameters that describe dynamic rearrangements for substances with an activation energy of approximately 5 to 25 kcal/mol2,3,4,5. Determination of the energy barriers to proton exchange between water and amine molecules6, the energy barrier to rotation about the C-N bond in dimethylformamide7, or the general size of organic moieties8 are only a few examples of the many properties that have been assessed through line shape fitting of dynamic NMR spectra. This manuscript demonstrates the use of line shape fitting to characterize the intermolecular and intramolecular dynamic processes that occur for the complex ReH5(PPh3)2(sec-butyl amine). The goals of this and similar line shape fitting NMR experiments are to: 1) characterize all NMR observable intramolecular dynamic atom exchange processes if present, 2) identify and characterize NMR observable intramolecular dynamic atom exchange processes if present, 3) identify correlated intramolecular atom exchanges that occur for, in this example, both hydrogen and phosphorus atoms, and 4) for the example presented here, compare two published models for the dynamic processes that occur in the complex ReH5(PPh3)2(sec-butyl amine).
Eight-coordinate rhenium(V) polyhydride systems are complex dynamic systems in which the ligands participate in multiple dynamic processes and the phosphorus atoms can participate in a single dynamic process that is a second aspect of a hydride ligand exchange process9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,
27,28,29. Eight-coordinate, pseudododecahedral, rhenium(V) polyhydride complexes adopt a molecular geometry (Figure 2), which can be described as a pair of orthogonal trapezoids of ligands17,26. The vertices on the long edges of the trapezoids are commonly labelled as B sites and, in rhenium polyhydride complexes, are usually the sites occupied by neutral two-electron donor ligands such as tertiary phosphines or amine ligands. The vertices on the short edges of the trapezoids are commonly labelled as A sites and are typically occupied by anionic, two-electron donor, hydride ligands. The room temperature NMR spectra of rhenium(V) polyhydride complexes are, typically, deceptively simple due to the several dynamic processes that occur in room temperature solutions.
Figure 2: A dodecahedral coordination set (left) and the complex ReH5(PPh3)2(sec-butyl amine) from the same perspective (right). The red-colored sites represent coordination sites that form a vertical trapezoid, and the blue-colored sites represent coordination sites that form a horizontal trapezoid. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Complexes of the form ReH5(PPh3)2(amine) are the most thoroughly studied class of rhenium polyhydride complexes with respect to dynamic processes9,10,12,13,16,30,31. Three dynamic processes (Figure 3) have been identified for ReH5(PPh3)2(amine) complexes: 1) a proton exchange between the sole B site hydride ligand and a proton from a water molecule (adventitious or intentional)9,13, 2) a turnstile exchange of a pair of A site hydride ligands with an adjacent B site hydride ligand9,11,13,30,31, and 3) a steric inversion (or pseudorotation) that manifests itself as a pairwise exchange of the A site hydride ligands and a pairwise movement of the B site atoms to the opposite side of the rhenium center (as depicted in Figure 4)4,5,6,8,26,27. The movement of B site atoms to the opposite side of rhenium is observable by dynamic NMR spectroscopy as: 1) a process that makes the inequivalent 3 and 5 protons of N = pyridine equivalent at room temperature10,30,31, 2) a process that causes the E and Z isomers of N = unsymmetrically substituted aromatic amine ligands to undergo fast exchange at room temperature9,10,13,30,31, or 3) a process that causes a fast exchange of the steric perspectives of a diastereotopic pair of phosphorus atoms with respect to a chiral center located on the amine ligand9,30,31. The previously unreported chiral complex ReH5(PPh3)2(sec-butyl amine) provides an opportunity to generally describe the methods that can be used to identify and characterize the dynamic rearrangements of rhenium polyhydride complexes.
Figure 3: Representations of the dynamic processes that are observed by NMR spectroscopy for solutions of ReH5(PPh3)2(sec-butyl amine). Representation A depicts the exchange of a single proton of adventitious water for the unique B-site hydride ligand. Representation B depicts the turnstile exchange of three adjacent hydride ligands, two of which reside in A site while the third is the unique B site hydride ligand. Representation C depicts both the pairwise exchange of A site hydride ligands as well as the steric inversion of the phosphorus atoms with respect to the chiral amine ligand (N*). It should be noted that the A site hydride ligand pairwise exchange does not require a shift of the A site hydride ligands to the opposite side of the rhenium center. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
For chemical systems such as rhenium polyhydride complexes, which exhibit a complex set of dynamic processes, line shape fitting of dynamic NMR spectra is the most used NMR technique to characterize the processes9,11,13,16,21,29. Two-dimensional EXSY9,32 or 2D-ROESY11 are alternative dynamic NMR techniques that can also be used to quantitatively characterize the dynamic processes. Two-dimensional EXSY spectra are typically measured in the slow exchange temperature domain; two-dimensional ROESY spectra are typically measured in the fast exchange temperature domain. Both two-dimensional techniques may require considerable time in the spectrometer for data acquisition, in that each of the techniques is acquiring a much larger data set, at a given temperature, than the one-dimensional data sets needed for line shape fitting analysis. Simple dynamic processes that are well understood, such as the dynamic exchange of the two methyl groups of dimethylformamide, can be readily characterized by any of the three NMR techniques. More complex systems, such as ReH5(PPh3)2(sec-butyl amine), in which individual hydride ligands participate in multiple dynamic processes, or systems that are not necessarily well understood, such as a novel transition metal polyhydride complex which may or may not exchange protons between a hydride ligand and adventitious water, are more easily quantitatively characterized by the line shape fitting NMR method than by the two-dimensional NMR methods. Unlike the two-dimensional NMR methods, the line shape fitting method provides an easily interpretable visualization of the match between a tested model and the experimental data as well as visual evidence of an exchange that moves a hydride ligand beyond the inner coordination sphere of rhenium. Based upon peak heights and peak shapes in slow exchange spectra, even a complex dynamic system such as ReH5(PPh3)2(sec-butyl amine) can lead to an easily tested initial set of exchange models. Additionally, when multiple theoretical models have been reported for a molecular transformation, line shape fitting of dynamic NMR spectra can allow for a visual comparison of each model versus observed spectra.
Beyond the three NMR techniques mentioned above, isotopic substitution NMR experiments involving D2O or HD have been used to qualitatively demonstrate intermolecular exchange of atoms for complex rhenium polyhydride systems, but have not been used for quantitative characterizations9,33,34,35. Theoretical calculations present an additional method for characterizing the dynamic processes of complex dynamic systems30,31,36. Theoretical calculations have the advantage over line shape fitting in that they can be used to differentiate between possibilities that cannot be distinguished by line shape fitting analysis. For example, theoretical calculations have been used to describe an exchange that involves three adjacent hydride ligands on certain rhenium(V) complexes as a turnstile exchange of all three hydride ligands, rather than an alternating pair of pairwise exchanges with each pairwise exchange including a unique hydride ligand and one of two chemically equivalent hydride ligands30,31. The results of theoretical calculations are typically compared to experimentally observed quantitative characterizations from one of the three NMR techniques mentioned above as a check on the validity of the calculated results.
Line shape fitting of dynamic NMR spectra takes advantage of the change in the appearance of NMR spectra that occurs when NMR-active nuclei move between different chemical environments during an NMR measurement. Slow exchange NMR spectra (spectra with independent Lorentzian resonances for each set of exchanging nuclei) occur at temperatures where the frequency difference between resonances for nuclei that exchange is large compared with the rate of exchange of the nuclei37. Fast exchange NMR spectra (spectra with a single Lorentzian resonance for exchanging nuclei) occur at temperatures where the rate of exchange of the nuclei is much greater than the frequency difference between the slow exchange resonances37. Intermediate exchange rates occur for temperatures between the slow exchange temperature domain and the fast exchange temperature domain37. If the fundamental parameters of Larmor frequency, chemical shift of the exchanging nuclei, coupling constants (if any) for the exchanging nuclei, and relative populations of each nucleus type are known, rate constants for putative exchanges between nuclei can be determined by comparing simulated spectra to observed spectra at several intermediate temperatures. Good fits for simulations at several temperatures result in temperature and rate constant data that can be used with the Eyring equation to estimate activation parameters for the putative exchange(s). Results from the method have been found to be both accurate and reproducible.
1. Sample preparation
2. Acquisition and analysis of NMR spectra
Figure 4: A comparison of 31P-{1H} signal intensities for a single sample of ReH5(PPh3)2(sec-butyl amine) in d8-toluene. A representative demonstration of the difference in signal intensities between a fast exchange single phosphorus resonance and a pair of phosphorus resonances near the coalescence temperature for those resonances. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
3. Determination of activation parameters from an Eyring plot 1
The characterizations of both rhenium polyhydride products described in this manuscript are best accomplished by 1H-{31P} and 31P-{1H} NMR spectroscopy. In a room temperature d6-benzene solution, the hydride ligand resonance of ReH7(PPh3)2 appears as a binomial triplet at δ = -4.2 ppm with 2JPH = 18 Hz by 1H NMR spectroscopy (Supplementary Figure 2). The same d6-benzene...
There are four items in the preparation of ReH7(PPh3)2 that can impact the quantity and purity of the material that is produced. First, the use of an ice bath during the first 15 min of the reaction is important to remove heat from the reaction that occurs between sodium borohydride and water. Higher initial temperatures lead to a decreased yield of the ReH7(PPh3)2 product due to formation of the thermal decomposition product Re2H8(PP...
The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
The authors thank the Department of Chemistry and Physics and the Creativity and Research Grant Program (Naik, Moehring) at Monmouth University for financial support of this work.
Name | Company | Catalog Number | Comments |
Bruker Avance II 400 MHz NMR spectrometer | Bruker Biospin | The instrument includes a two channel probe (1H and X) with the X channel tunable from 162 MHz to 10 Mhz. The instrument is also VT capable with a dewar and heat exchanger for VT work. | |
d8-toluene | MilliporeSigma | 434388 | |
Powerstat variable transformer | Powerstat | ||
sec-butyl amine | MilliporeSigma | B89000 | |
Sodium borohydride | MilliporeSigma | 452882 | |
Tetrahydrofuran | MilliporeSigma | 186562 | |
Thermowell C3AM 100 mL | Thermowell | ||
Topspin 3.0 or 4.1.4 with dNMR | Bruker Biospin | Data was acquired with Topspin version 3.0 and data handling was performed on a second computer that was running Topspin version 4.1.4.. | |
Trichlorooxobis(triphenylphosphine) rhenium(V) | MilliporeSigma | 370193 | |
Vacuubrand PC3000 vacuum pump with a CVC 3000 controller | Vacuubrand |
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