Side-On Coordination of Nitrous Oxide to a Mononuclear Cobalt Center

Abstract

Despite its utility as an oxygen-atom transfer reagent for transition metals, nitrous oxide (N₂O) is a notoriously poor ligand, and its coordination chemistry has been limited to a few terminal, end-on κ¹-<i>N</i> complexes. Here, the synthesis of a mononuclear cobalt complex possessing a side-on-bound N₂O molecule is reported. Structural characterization, IR spectroscopy, and DFT calculations support an η²-<i>N,N</i> binding mode for binding of N₂O to the cobalt center.