Main group chemistry of 9-hydroxophenalenone: Syntheses and structural characterization of the alkaline earth and zinc complexes

Herein, we report the synthesis and characterization of 9-hydroxophenalenone based alkaline earth and zinc complexes. The reaction of 9-hydroxophenalenone (HO,O-PLY (1)) with one equivalent of KN(SiMe3)(2) and MI2 in THF yields heteroleptic complexes [(O,O-PLY)M(THF)(n)]I [M = Mg (2), Ca (3), Sr (4), Ba (5); n = 1-4], while use of two equivalents of KN(SiMe3)(2) in THF (with respect to PLY) produces homoleptic complex (O,O-PLY)(2)Mg(THF)(2) (6). Moreover, reaction between two equivalents of 1 with one equivalent of ZnMe2 in THF produces complex (O,O-PLY)(2)Zn(THF)(2) (7). All these complexes were characterized by NMR spectroscopy and elemental analyses. The solid state structures of complexes 2, 6 and 7 were established by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis.