Structural and electronic elucidation of a N-heterocyclic silylene vanadocene adduct.

The solid and solution state structure of the vanadium(II) N-heterocyclic silylene (NHSi) complex, [((IPr)-I-Si) V(Cp)(2)] (1) is reported ((IPr)-I-Si: 1,3-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)-1,3-diaza-2-sila-cyclopent-4-en-2-ylidene). The electronic structure of 1 is probed using a combination of magnetic measurements, EPR spectroscopy and computational studies. The V-Si bond strength and complex forming mechanism between vanadocene and an NHSi ligand is elucidated using computational methods.