Phosphine control of the oxidative addition chemistry of tetrathiocins to palladium(0): characterization of mono-, di-, and hexanuclear palladium(II) dithiolate complexes.

The outcome of the oxidative addition reactions of bis(4',5'-dimethoxybenzo)-1,2,5,6-tetrathiocin to Pd2dba3 under microwave conditions is sensitive to the nature of the phosphine coreagent; the bidentate phosphines dppm, dppe, and dppf afford the mononuclear dithiolates (dmobdt)Pd(dppm) (4), (dmobdt)Pd(dppe) (2), and (dmobdt)Pd(dppf) (5), whereas more labile monodentate phosphines lead to aggregation; Ph3P afforded the dinuclear dithiolate (dmobdt)2Pd2(PPh3)2 (6), whereas (t)Bu3P generated the phosphine-free hexanuclear edge-capped octahedral complex Pd6(dmobdt)6 (7) [dmobdt = 4,5-dimethoxybenzenedithiolate, (MeO)2C6H2S2(2-)].