Bis(alkylamido)phenylborane Complexes of Zirconium, Hafnium, and Vanadium

The coordination chemistry of the bis(tert-butylamido)phenylborane ligand, [tBuN−BPh−NtBu]2-, is developed. The
ligand can be delivered to metals of groups 4 and 5 from its dilithio salt. The reactions of PhB(tBuNLi)2, 1, with
metal halides of zirconium, hafnium, and vanadium generate complexes of the general formulas (tBuN−BPh−NtBu)2M(THF) (M = Zr (2), Hf (3)), Li2[M(tBuN−BPh−NtBu)3] (M = Zr (4), Hf (5)), and M(tBuN−BPh−NtBu)2 (M =
V (6)). 1H and 11B{1H} NMR and single-crystal X-ray analysis show that these amido metal complexes are structurally
analogous to amidinates.