4,9-Diazadodeca-1,trans-6,11-trienes as Ligands for Nickel(0), Palladium(0), and Platinum(0)

A series of tris-ene trigonal-planar nickel(0), palladium(0), and platinum(0) complexes M(η2,η2,η2-C10H16N2Me2) (M = Ni−Pt (2a−4a)) and M(η2,η2,η2-C10H16N2(C3H5)2) (M = Ni−Pt (2b−4b)) have been prepared using the open-chain aminoalkenes N,N‘-dimethyl-4,9-diazadodeca-1,trans-6,11-triene (1,4-bis(allylmethylamino)-trans-2-butene, 1a) and N,N‘-diallyl-4,9-diazadodeca-1,trans-6,11-triene (1,4-bis(diallylamino)-trans-2-butene, 1b). The ligands comprise a central diamino-trans-2-butene moiety with terminal N-allyl groups, so that the CC groups are positioned in a repetitive 1,6-sequence. This confers useful properties on the metal complexes. The molecular structure of 2b has been determined by X-ray crystallography.