Synthesis and Characterization of a Copper Dinitrogen Complex Supported by a Weakly Coordinating Anion.

We report the synthesis and full characterization of the copper dinitrogen complex [(η 1 -N 2 )Cu{Al(OR F ) 4 }] 2 (R F =C(CF 3 ) 3 ) prepared by a cascade metathesis reaction of Ag[Al(OR F ) 4 ] with CuI-excess in iso-perfluorohexane (i-pfh) under N 2 atmosphere. Title compound 2 features an extraordinarily high N 2 stretching frequency at 2313/2314 cm -1 (IR/Raman) and was characterized by single-crystal and powder X-ray diffractometry. Quantum chemical charge displacement analysis based on natural orbitals of chemical valence (CD-NOCV) indicates that the copper-dinitrogen interaction is still governed by weak π-backdonation, but is significantly reduced compared to all literature-known transition metal dinitrogen complexes.