Redox Behavior of Rhodium 9,10-Phenanthrenediimine Complexes

New square-planar rhodium complexes of the redox-active ligand 9,10-phenenthrenediimine (phdi) have been prepared and studied. The complexes [dpp-nacnacCH3]Rh(phdi) (2a; [dpp-nacnacCH3]− = CH[C(Me)(N- i Pr2C6H3)]2 −) and [dpp-nacnacCF3]Rh(phdi) (2b; [dpp-nacnacCF3]− = CH[C(CF3)(N- i Pr2C6H3)]2 −) have been prepared from the corresponding [nacnac]Rh(CO)2 synthons by treatment with Me3NO in the presence of the phdi ligand. Complexes 2a and 2b are diamagnetic, and their absorption spectra are dominated by intense charge-transfer transitions throughout the visible region. Electrochemical studies indicate that both the phdi ligand and the rhodium metal center are redox-active, with the [nacnac]− ligands serving to modulate the one-electron-oxidation and -reduction redox potentials. In the case of 2a, chemical oxidation and reduction reactions provided access to the one-electron-oxidized cation, [2a]+, and one-electron-reduced anion, [2a]−, the latter of which has been characterized in the solid state by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Solution electron paramagnetic resonance spectra of [2a]+ and [2a]− are consistent with S = 1/2 spin systems, but surprisingly the low-temperature spectrum of [2a]− shows a high degree of rhombicity, suggestive of rhodium(II) character in the reduced anion.