A convenient route to a norbornadiene adduct of iridium with chelating phosphines, [Ir(R2PCH2CH2PR2)(NBD)][BAr4F] and a comparison of reactivity with H2 in solution and the solid state

The straightforward synthesis of two cationic iridium norbornadiene species bearing simple bidentate phosphines is reported [Ir(R2PCH2CH2PR2)(NBD)][BAr4F] [NBD = norbornadiene; R = Bu-t, Cy; Ar-F = 3,5 -C6H3(CF3)(2)]. The hydrogenation of [Ir((Bu2PCH2CH2PBu2)-Bu-t-Bu-t)(NBD)][BAr4F] in the solution phase and in the solid state is described in which saturated (solution) or unsaturated (solid-state) dimeric species with bridging hydrides are formed. The solid-state structures, as determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction, of these dimeric species are also discussed. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licensesiby/4.0/).