Intramolecular C-X activation as a synthetic route to bidentate cyclopentadienyl-alkoxide ligands: preparation and molecular structure of [3-(2,3,4,5-tetramethylcyclopentadienyl)propoxy]titanium dichloride

Abstract

Cp'TiCl3 (1; Cp' = eta-5-C5Me4(CH2)3OMe) reacts with 2 equiv of the phosphorous ylide PPh3 = CH2 (2) to yield Cp'TiCl2(CHPPh3) (3) plus the phosphonium salt (MePPh3)Cl. Complex 3 decomposes thermally to give [eta-5:eta-1-C5Me4(CH2)3O]TiCl2 (4), containing a Cp* -alkoxide-functionalized ligand. The molecular structure of 4 shows it as a pseudo three-legged piano-stool complex.