Flash Communication: High-Pressure Synthesis and Post-synthetic Elimination of N2 Molecule of the Chromium Dinitrogen Complex, [Cr(PCy3)2(CO)3(N2)]

Dinitrogen complexes have garnered significant attention due to their potential applications across various fields. The synthesis and characterization of novel dinitrogen complexes are essential to advancing this area of research. In this study, we report the bulk synthesis and first successful single crystal X-ray structure analysis of [Cr(PCy3)2(CO)3(N2)] using high-pressure nitrogen at 50 atm. The presence of the nitrogen ligand was confirmed by infrared (IR) spectroscopy and elemental analysis, and the interesting disorder phenomenon between N2 and CO ligands was also observed. The elimination process of the N2 ligand was monitored by a combination of thermogravimetry (TG) and temperature-programmed desorption (TPD), and the changes in the color, IR spectrum, and UV–vis spectrum of the complexes before and after elimination were investigated. These experimental results agree well with the results of density functional theory (DFT) calculations.