Science Seminar Series: Noriyo Onishi '17 Senior Thesis Presentation—PNP Pincer Ligand and Its Complexes

Pincer ligands are a class of tridentate ligands that have three electron-donor sites that can bond to a central metal atom or ion. They are widely employed in the design of transition metal-based catalysis. PNP (2,6-bis(di-tert-butylphosphinomethyl)pyridine) is a commonly used pincer ligand, which has two phosphorous and one nitrogen as donor atoms. PNP thus has the ability to bind to both soft and hard metal centers due to their characteristics of its three electron-donor sites (1 hard nitrogen donor atom and 2 soft phosphorous atoms). To-date, PNP-vanadium and PNP-zinc complexes have not been reported in literature. Herein, Onishi reports the first structurally characterized PNP complexes of these metals. The synthesis and structures of these complexes will be discussed in this presentation.