Siloxymethylamines as Aminomethylation Reagents for Amines Leading to Labile Diaminomethanes That can be Trapped as Their [Mo(CO)4 ] Complexes.

Compound Et3 SiOCH2 NMe2 transfers Me2 NCH2 to R2 NH (R2 =Et2 , PhMe, [Cr(η(6) -C6 H5 )(CO)3 ]Me, PhH) to form previously unknown diaminomethanes, Me2 NCH2 NR2 and, in the case of R2 =PhH, the triamine Me2 NCH2 N(Ph)CH2 NMe2 . The diaminomethanes exhibit an unreported disproportionation to a mixture of (R2 N)2 CH2 , (Me2 N)2 CH2 , and Me2 NCH2 NR2 , which can be trapped as their [Mo(CO)4 (diamine)] complexes. Whereas PhMeNCH2 NMe2 is a labile material, the metal-substituted ([(η(6) -C6 H5 )Cr(CO)3 ]MeNCH2 NMe2 is a stable material. The triamine Me2 NCH2 N(Ph)CH2 NMe2 is unstable with respect to transformation to 1,3,5-triphenyltriazine, but is readily trapped as the bidentate-triamineMo(CO)4 . All metal complexes were characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction.