Dihydrogen and Acetylene Activation by a Gold(I)/Platinum(0) Transition Metal Only Frustrated Lewis Pair

The first example of a frustrated Lewis pair (FLP) solely constructed around transition metal centers is described in this work. We have focused on the established capacity of Au­(I) and Pt(0) complexes to act as Lewis acidic and basic fragments, respectively, while employing sufficiently bulky P t Bu3 and terphenyl phosphine ligands. This avoids formation of metallic Lewis adducts and confers the Au­(I)/Pt(0) pair a remarkable capacity to activate dihydrogen and acetylene molecules in a fashion that closely resembles that of traditional main group FLP systems. As a consequence, unusual heterobimetallic Au­(I)/Pt­(II) complexes containing hydride (−H), acetylide (−CCH), and vinylene (−HCCH−) bridges have been isolated.