The Experimental Electron Density Distribution of A C-H→4C0 Bridged Complex

Abstract

C-H→M bridged species have generated particular interest in recent years¹ with a view to their serving as models for the intermediate stages of oxidative addition of C-H to transition metals, a reaction of great importance in organometallic chemistry. The complex studied here, bis(cyclo-octane-1,5-diyl-dipyrazolylborate)Co(II), has $\bar{1}$ symmetry about the central cobalt atom. The pseudo-octahedral coordination sphere involves ligation of 4 pyrazolyl nitrogen atoms in a square-plane and is completed by two agostic¹ C-H→Co interactions (Figure 1). This coordination is particularly unusual as the parent bis(pyrazolyl) complex is tetrahedral with no agostic interactions.