Pincer ligands with an all-phosphorus donor set: subtle differences between rhodium and palladium

The synthesis of a new, all-phosphorus pincer (PPP)-P-NEt2 ligand L3(NEt2), which is derived from 2-indolylphosphine and features a central N2P(NEt2) core, is described. This 'PPP' species shows coordination toward Rh as a neutral trisphosphine ligand. Tridentate diphenylphosphine-derived (PPP)-P-H ligands L1(H) and L2(H), featuring a secondary phosphine core, show 'ambivalent' coordination, acting as persistent neutral triphosphine ligands with Rh, and as easily-formed monoanionic phosphido(bisphosphine) pincer ligands toward Pd. These subtle differences, which might be more general for group 9 and 10 metal complexes with this ligand set, are explained by comparative DFT calculations (BP86; def2-TZVP level of theory) for the Rh and Pd species involved, including those with the structurally related (PNP)-P-H ligands. The optimized structure for complex PdCl(L2) indicates minimal overlap of available Pd d-orbitals with the lone pair of the central, deprotonated phosphorus atom (formally a phosphido fragment), suggesting that it behaves predominantly like a bulky phosphine instead of a phosphido fragment.