Synthesis and characterization of novel metal(III) complexes of corrole. Crystal and molecular structure of (2,3,7,8,12,13,17,18-octamethylcorrolato)(triphenylarsine) rhodium(III)

Transition-metal complexes of 2,3,7,8,12,13,17,18-octamethylcorrole (H3omc) have been prepared in high yield by means of three different synthetic procedures. The macrocycle acts as a trianionic ligand leading to the formation of neutral species. The crystal and molecular structure of the compound [Rh(AsPh3)(omc)] has been determined by X-ray diffraction methods. The crystals are orthorhombic, space group P212121, with unit-cell dimensions a= 20.172(7), b= 12.468(5), c= 14.893(5)Å, and Z= 4. The structure was solved by the heavy-atom technique and refined to R= 0.0353 for 1 436 independent reflections. The rhodium atom has a distorted square-pyramidal environment, the basal positions being occupied by the four nitrogen atoms from the corrole ligand and the apex by the arsenic atom from the triphenylarsine molecule.