Cationic palladium(II) complexes of the sterically hindered bis(4-methylthiazolyl)isoindoline (4-Mebti) with neutral group XVI donor ligands

A series of cationic palladium complexes [(4-Mebti)PdL]⁺ with 4-Mebti = anion of bis(4-methylthiazolylimino)isoindoline and L = neutral ligand with group 16 donor atom has been prepared from the chlorido derivative [(4-Mebti)PdCl] and NaBAr^F (BAr^F = tetrakis(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)boranate) in the presence of the respective donor ligand. Crystallographic and spectroscopic analyses were achieved for species with L = SMe₂, SeMe₂, dmf, acetamide, diphenylurea, and formiate. The latter two complexes represent products from hydrolyses of phenyl isocyanate and dmf, respectively, which occur during the ligand exchange reactions. Several other O-donor ligands like thf, acetone, Me₂O, water, and others are not bound to the palladium ion, and the dinuclear μ-chlorido derivative [{(4-Mebti)Pd}₂Cl]⁺ is isolated in these cases instead. The crystallographic analyses prove the expected presence of distorted, pseudo-planar palladium chelates, and the degree of distortion correlates well with the chemical shifts observed for the proton nuclei of the terminal methyl groups in the ¹H NMR experiment.