Organoantimony chemistryOrganoantimony chemistry is the chemistry of compounds containing a carbon to antimony (Sb) chemical bond. Relevant oxidation states are SbV and SbIII. The toxicity of antimony[1] limits practical application in organic chemistry.[2] SynthesesStibinesAn organoantimony synthesis typically begins with tricoordinate antimony compounds, called stibines. Antimony trichloride reacts with organolithium or Grignard reagents to give compounds of the form R3Sb:
Stibines are weak Lewis acids and do not form ate complexes. As soft Lewis donors, they see wide use in coordination chemistry[3]: 348 and typically react through oxidative addition:
This property also sensitizes them to air. If reduced instead, stibanes typically release substituents (ligands):[3]: 443
The cyclic compound stibole, a structural analog of pyrrole, has not been isolated, but substituted derivatives have. Antimony metallocenes are known as well:
The Cp*-Sb-Cp* angle is 154°. StiboranesPentacoordinate antimony compounds are called stiboranes. They can be synthesised from stibines and halogens (Ph = C6H5):
As confirmed by X-ray crystallography, dichlorostiboranes feature pentacoordinate Sb(V) with trans-diaxial chloride ligands.[4] The dichlorostiborane reacts with phenyl lithium to give pentaphenylantimony:
Like the organobismuth compounds, stiboranes form onium compounds and ate complexes. Unsymmetrical stiboranes can also be obtained through the stibonium ions:
Pentaphenylantimony decomposes at 200 °C to triphenylstibine and biphenyl. In the related Me5Sb, proton NMR spectra recorded at -100 °C cannot resolve the two types of methyl protons. This observation is consistent with rapid Berry pseudorotation. Distibines and antimony(I) compoundsDistibines are formally SbII compounds, but feature tricoordinate Sb atoms with a single Sb-Sb bond. They may have interest as thermochromes. For example, tetramethyldistibine is colorless when gas, yellow when liquid, red when solid just below the melting point of 18.5 °C, shiny-blue when cooler, and again yellow at cryogenic temperatures.[6][3]: 442 A typical synthesis first displaces an SbIII halide with an alkali metal and then reduces the resulting anion with ethylene dichloride.[3]: 781–783 Like its lighter congener, arsenic, organoantimony compounds can be reduced to cyclic oligomers that are formally antimony(I) compounds.[3]: 563–577 With other substituentsSbV-N bonds are unstable, except where the N is also bonded to other electron-withdrawing substituents.[7] ReactionsStibine oxides undergo a sort of polarized-olefin metathesis. For example, they mediate a carbonyl-imine exchange (Ar is any activated arene):[8]: 399
The effect may extend vinylically:[9] In contrast, unstabilized ylides (R3Sb=CR'2; R' not electron-withdrawing) form only with difficulty (e.g. diazo reagents).[8]: 399–400 Like other metals, stibanes vicinal to a leaving group can eliminate before a proton. For example, diphenyl(β-hydroxyphenethyl)stibine decomposes in heat or acid to styrene:[8]: 400–402
As tertiary stibines also insert into haloalkyl bonds, tertiary stibines are powerful dehalogenating agents.[8]: 403 However, stibanes poorly imitate active metal organometallics: only with difficulty do their ligands add to carbonyls or they power noble-metal cross couplings.[8]: 403–405 Stiboranes are gentle oxidants, converting acyloins to diketones and thiols to disulfides.[8]: 406–408 In air, tris(thiophenyl)stibine catalyzes a Hunsdiecker-like decarboxylative oxidation of anhydrides to alcohols.[8]: 411 In ultraviolet light, distibines radicalize; the resulting radicals can displace iodide.[3]: 766 See alsoReferences
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