Addition of Organic 1,3‐Dipolar Compounds across a Heterobinuclear Bond between Early and Late Transition Metals: Mechanism of Nitrogen Loss from an Organoazido Complex To Form a Bridging Imido Complex

An intact organonitrogen bridge is formed when ethyl diazoacetate or phenyl azide add across a ZrIr bond (for example, 1; Cp = C5H5, Cp* = C5Me5). The ethyl diazoacetate complex is thermally stable, but heating the phenyl azide complex 1 leads to first-order loss of N2 and formation of the bridging phenylimido complex.