Reactions of the Re(CO)3(H2O)3(+) synthon with monodentate ligands under aqueous conditions.

The reactions of ammonia, pyridine (py), N-methyl imidazole (N-MeIm), tetrahydrothiophene (tht), and piperidine (pip) with Re(CO) 3(H 2O) 3 (+), 1 ( + ), were investigated employing aqueous conditions under atmospheric dioxygen. The reaction of [ 1]Br in aqueous ammonia led to [Re(CO) 3(NH 3) 3]Br ([ 2]Br) as the only product isolated. For the aqueous reactions of [ 1]Br with py, N-MeIm, and tht, mixtures of products are formed because of competition between the bromide and added ligand, even when the ligand is present in excess. Substitution of the PF 6 (-) anion for Br (-) leads to the clean formation of [Re(CO) 3L 3][PF 6] ([ 3][PF 6]-[ 5][PF 6]) for py, N-MeIm, and tht, respectively, as the only products observed. Reaction of [ 1][PF 6] with pip produces the dimeric species, (pip)(CO) 3Re(micro-OH) 2Re(CO) 3(pip), 6. Reactions of [ 1]Br were also performed in methanol for comparison purposes. The reaction with pip in this solvent led to the analogous dimer, (pip)(CO) 3Re(micro-OMe) 2Re(CO) 3(pip), 7; however, reactions with py, N-MeIm, and tht gave Re(CO) 3L 2Br, 8- 10, respectively, as the only products. The crystal structures of compounds [ 2]Br- 10 are reported.