Dinitrogen Cleavage and Hydrogenation by a Trinuclear Titanium Polyhydride Complex

Both the Haber-Bosch and biological ammonia syntheses are thought to rely on the cooperation of multiple metals in breaking the strong N≡N triple bond and forming an N-H bond. This has spurred investigations of the reactivity of molecular multimetallic hydrides with dinitrogen. We report here the reaction of a trinuclear titanium polyhydride complex with dinitrogen, which induces dinitrogen cleavage and partial hydrogenation at ambient temperature and pressure. By (1)H and (15)N nuclear magnetic resonance, x-ray crystallographic, and computational studies of some key reaction steps and products, we have determined that the dinitrogen (N2) reduction proceeds sequentially through scission of a N2 molecule bonded to three Ti atoms in a μ-η(1):η(2):η(2)-end-on-side-on fashion to give a μ2-N/μ3-N dinitrido species, followed by intramolecular hydrogen migration from Ti to the μ2-N nitrido unit.