Syntheses and spectroscopic and structural characterization of silver(I) complexes containing tris(isobutyl)phosphine and poly(azol-1-yl)borates

Silver(I) derivatives [Ag(L)(PⁱBu₃)] (L = H₂B(tz)₂ (dihydrobis(1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)borate), HB(tz)₃ (hydrotris(1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)borate), Tp (hydrotris(1H-pyrazol-1-yl)borate), Tp∗ (hydrotris(3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)borate), Tp^Me (hydrotris(3-methyl-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)borate), Tp^CF3 (hydrotris(3-trifluoromethyl-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)borate), Tp^4Br (hydrotris(4-bromo-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)borate), HB(btz)₃ (hydrotris(1H-1,2,4-benzotriazol-1-yl)borate), Tm (hydrotris(3-methy-1-imidazolyl-2-thione)borate), pzTp (tetrakis(1H-pyrazol-1-yl)borate), pz⁰Tp^Me (tetrakis(3-methyl-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)borate) have been synthesized from the reaction of [Ag(NO₃)(PⁱBu₃)₂] with ML (M = Na or K) and characterized both in solution (¹H- and ³¹P{¹H} NMR, ESI MS spectroscopy, conductivity) and in the solid state (IR, single crystal X-ray structure analysis). These complexes are air-stable and light-sensitive and non-electrolytes in CH₂Cl₂ and acetone in which they slowly decompose, even with the strict exclusion of oxygen and light, yielding metallic silver and/or azolate (Az) species of formula [Ag(Az)(PⁱBu₃)_x] upon breaking of the bridging B-N_(azole) bond. The solid state structures of [Ag(Tp)(PⁱBu₃)], [Ag(Tp^Me)(PⁱBu₃)], [Ag(Tp^CF3)(PⁱBu₃)], [Ag{HB(btz)₃}(PⁱBu₃)], and [Ag(Tm)(PⁱBu₃)] show that the silver atom adopts a distorted tetrahedral coordination geometry. [Ag(L)(PPh₃)] can be easily obtained from the reaction of [Ag(L)(PⁱBu₃)] with excess PPh₃, whereas from the reverse reaction of [Ag(L)(PPh₃)] with PⁱBu₃a mixture of [Ag(L)(PⁱBu₃)] and [Ag(L)]₂ and [Ag(L)(PPh₃)] was recovered. ³¹P{¹H} NMR variable temperature NMR studies showed that in the pz⁰Tp^x derivatives the scorpionate ligand acts as a bidentate donor, whereas tridentate coordination is found for all tris(azolyl)borate derivatives, both in solution and in the solid state. ESI MS data suggest the existence in solution of species such as [Ag(PⁱBu₃)₂]⁺ upon dissociation of the L ligand, and also the formation of dimeric species of the form [Ag₂(L)(PⁱBu₃)₂]⁺.