Isolation of a PBP-pincer rhodium complex stabilized by an intermolecular C-H σ coordination as the fourth ligand.

A little help from my friends: a highly reactive, 16-electron square-planar rhodium complex was isolated. This species displays an intermolecular interaction between the rhodium and the C-H bond of another molecule as the fourth ligand to form an infinite network in the crystal lattice. The complex undergoes oxidative addition to the O-H bond of phenol or a primary alkyl alcohol to give the corresponding hydrido-phenoxido Rh(III) complex or carbonyl Rh(I) complex, respectively.