Synthesis of a Ga-Stabilized As-Centered Radical and a Gallastibene by Tailoring Group 15 Element-Carbon Bond Strengths.

A convenient synthetic route to Ga-stabilized pnictogen-centered radicals and gallapnictenes by manipulation of pnictogen-carbon bond strengths is presented. Two equivalents of LGa (L = HC[C(Me)N(Dip)]2, Dip = 2,6-i-Pr2C6H3) react with CpArAsCl2 (CpAr = C5(4-t-BuC6H4)5) with formation of the arsenic-centered radical [L(Cl)Ga]2As·1. In contrast, the analogous reaction with TerSbCl2 (Ter = 2,6-Mes2C6H3; Mes = 2,4,6-Me3C6H2) yields the gallastibene LGa═SbTer (2) containing a Ga-Sb double bond, whereas reactions of DipSbCl2 with one and two equivalents of LGa give the monoinsertion and bisinsertion products L(Cl)GaSb(ClDip) (3) and [L(Cl]Ga]2SbDip (4), respectively. 1-4 were structurally characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The description of 1 as an arsenic-centered radical is consistent with results of electron paramagnetic resonance and density functional theory (DFT) studies. The π-bonding in LGa═SbTer (2) is estimated to 10.68 kcal mol-1 by variable-temperature (VT) NMR spectroscopy, and DFT studies reveal a significant π-bonding interaction between Sb and Ga.