The η1-H-CHg agostic interactions in the mercury complexes of N-confused porphyrin

Dalton Trans. 2018 Oct 23;47(41):14774-14784. doi: 10.1039/c8dt02895h.

Abstract

Six four-coordinated complexes of the chemical formulae [Hg(2-N CH2COOCH2CH3-21-H-NCTPP)X] with X = Cl (5), Br (6), I (7), [Hg(2-NCH3-21-H-NCTPP)Cl] (4) and [Hg(2-NCH2COOCH2C6H5-21-H-NCTPP)X] with X = Cl (8), I (9) are synthesized and structurally determined. The bond path for the weak η1-H(17)-C(17)Hg agostic interactions between the Hg center and H(17) in complexes 4-9 was a through-space interaction from Hg to agostic carbon [C(17)] followed by a through-bond interaction from C(17) to an agostic proton [H(17)]. The magnitude of J[Hg-H(17)] [or the agostic upfield shift Δδago of the C(17)] for these complexes increases as the halide ligand varies from iodide to chloride, ranging from 33.2 Hz (or 14.3 ppm) for I- to 36 Hz (or 15.8 ppm) for Br- and 36.9 Hz (or 16.0 ppm) for Cl-. The plot of J[Hg-H(17)] for the agostic proton H(17) versus |Δδago| for the agostic carbon atom C(17) in compounds 3-9 was linearly expressed as J[Hg-H(17)] = 2.29 |Δδago| + 0.13.