Photolytic or Oxidative Fragmentation of Trityl Diazeniumdiolate (O2N2CPh3–): Evidence for Both C–N and N–N Bond Cleavage

Exposure of [K(18-crown-6)(THF)2][CPh3] (THF = tetrahydrofuran; Ph = phenyl) to an atmosphere of nitric oxide (NO) cleanly generates [K(18-crown-6)][O2N2CPh3] (1) in excellent yields. A subsequent reaction of [ZnCl2(THF)2] with 3 equiv of 1 affords the C-diazeniumdiolate complex [K(18-crown-6)][Zn(O2N2CPh3)3] (2). Both 1 and 2 were characterized by 1H and 13C{1H} NMR spectroscopy, and their structures were confirmed by X-ray crystallography. Photolysis of 2 using 371 nm light resulted in the formation of three trityl-containing products, namely, Ph3CH, 9-phenylfluorene, and Ph3CN(H)OCPh3 (3). In addition, we detected nitrous oxide (N2O), as well as small amounts of NO in the reaction mixture. In contrast, oxidation of 2 with 1.2 equiv of [Ag(MeCN)4][PF6] resulted in the formation of O(CPh3)2 as the major trityl-containing product; N2O was also detected in the reaction mixture, but NO was not apparently formed in this case. The observation of these fragmentation products indicates that the [O2N2CPh3]- ligand is susceptible to both C-N bond and N-N bond cleavage. Moreover, the different product distributions suggest that [O2N2CPh3]- is susceptible to different modes of fragmentation.