Nitrile ligated transition metal complexes with weakly coordinating counteranions and their catalytic applications

The organonitrile stabilized transition metal complexes with weakly or noncoordinating anions (WCA) and their catalytic applications are summarized. The study is based on an overview on WCAs, known transition metal complexes, solely ligated by nitrile molecules and associated with WCAs, their spectroscopic and structural characterization, and their applications, and possibilities for the anchoring of these compounds to inorganic supports and polymers. The infrared spectra of Solvent-coordinated monomeric transition metal complexes exhibit two absorptions occurring due to Fermi resonance interactions and combination bands. The initial anchoring of dimolybdenum(II,II) salts is found to occur at the surface silanol groups by removal of labile MeCN ligands from the complexes. The activities of various heterogeneous samples examined in the cyclopropanation of styrene show that these materials show lower activity for cyclopentadiene polymerization than the complexes in homogeneous phase.