Triangular Palladium Cluster from Activation of the Si-Si Bond in a Disilane with Phosphine Pendants.

A disilane that contains two diphenylphosphino moieties, (Ph2PCH2)Ph2Si-SiPh2(CH2PPh), was readily synthesized from the reaction of ClPh2Si-SiPh2Cl with (tmeda)Li(CH2PPh2). Treatment of the thus-obtained disilane with the palladium(0) precursor [Pd(CNtBu)2]3 led to the exclusive formation of a trinuclear palladium cluster in which three palladium atoms are arranged in a triangular fashion. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis of the obtained triangular cluster revealed that novel silylphosphido chelating ligands were formed via a skeletal rearrangement of the ligand framework.