Cyclopalladation of the Indole Ring in Palladium(II) Complexes of 2N1O-Donor Ligands and Its Dependence on the O-Donor Properties

Synthetic, structural, spectroscopic, and kinetic studies have been carried out on the Pd(II) complexes of new
2N1O-donor ligands containing a pendent indole, 3-(N-2-pyridylmethyl-N-2-hydroxy-5-methoxybenzylamino)ethylindole (HMeO-iepp), 3-(N-2-pyridylmethyl-N-2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzylamino)ethylindole (HNO2-iepp), and (N-2-pyridylmethyl-3-indolylethylamino)acetic acid (Hiepc) (H denotes a dissociable proton). [Pd(MeO-iepp)Cl] (2), [Pd(NO2-iepp)Cl] (3), and [Pd(iepc)Cl] (4) were prepared and revealed by X-ray analysis to have a pyridine nitrogen, an
amine nitrogen, a phenolate or carboxylate oxygen, and a chloride ion in the coordination plane. UV absorption
and 1H NMR spectral changes indicated that all the complexes could be converted to the indole-binding complexes
where the O donor was replaced by the indole C2 atom by cyclopalladation in DMSO or DMF in the temperature
range of 40−60 °C. Formation of the indole-binding complex species obeyed the first-order kinetics, from which the
activation parameters were estimated. The formation rate was dependent on the properties of the O-donor group,
a lower pKa value of its conjugate acid causing faster conversion to the indole-binding species in the order 2
(methoxyphenolate) < 3 (nitrophenolate) < 4 (carboxylate). On the other hand, the ratio of the indole-binding complex
to the O-donor complex as a result of the conversion was greater for the complexes with a higher pKa value of the
ligand OH group, the order being 2 > 3 > 4.