Lab Manual Metal Acetylacetonate Complexes Web PDF
Lab Manual Metal Acetylacetonate Complexes Web PDF
Lab Manual Metal Acetylacetonate Complexes Web PDF
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Contents
Objectives
3
Introduction 3
Experiment 6
Safety 6
AI3+ Complex 6
Co3+ Complex 8
Mn3+ Complex 10
Fe3+ Complex 13
Cu2+ Complex 16
(VO)2+ Complex 19
Cr3+ Complex 19
Acetylacetone Tautomerisation 20
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Objectives
The aim of this experiment is for students to synthesise a metal acetylacetonate complex,
understand the keto-enol tautomerisation of acetylacetone and determine the electronic structure of their
compound using Evans method and the Spinsolve NMR spectrometer.
Introduction
Acetylacetone (2,4-pentanedione) is an organic compound, a -diketone, that exists as an equilibrium
mixture of tautomeric keto and enol forms. In basic solution, it is deprotonated to form the
acetylacetonate anion (acac) (Figure 1).
The acac anion can act as a ligand towards metal ions, typically forming a bidentate complex where the
metal is bound to the two oxygen atoms, thus forming a 6-membered ring. Metal acac compounds are
typically isolated as crystalline solids that are neutral, hence an Mn+ metal forms a complex with n acac
ligands (Figure 2).
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In organometallic chemistry, many of the complexes encountered contain paramagnetic metal ions.
Unpaired electrons in a paramagnetic complex have significant effects on both the chemical shift and
the relaxation of proton resonances in the 1H-NMR spectrum of the complex, causing broadening of
peaks and the chemical shifts of other compounds to move. NMR spectroscopy can therefore be used
to determine whether a complex is paramagnetic or diamagnetic, and a technique called Evans Method
can be used to estimate the magnetic moment of the sample and thus the electronic structure of the
complex.
The determination of magnetic susceptibility of substances in solution by NMR was published by Evans
in 1959. Evans correlated and observed the difference in chemical shift of an inert reference compound
(t-butanol) in the presence and absence of paramagnetic transition metal complexes with Equation 1.
3 f X 0( d 0- d s)
Equation 1: Xg = + X0 +
2 fm m
Where Xg is the mass susceptibility of the solute, f is the observed shift in the frequency of the
reference compound, f is the frequency of the spectrometer, m is the mass of the substance per
cm3 of solvent, X0 is the mass susceptibility of the solvent, d0 is the density of the solvent and ds
is the density of the solution. The second and third terms may be dropped as they tend to cancel
each other out or add more error. If the equation is also converted to a form appropriate for SI
units, the equation becomes:
6 1 f
Equation 2: Xm = = f
1000 c
Where Xm is the molar susceptibility of the solute (m3 mol-1), c is the concentration of the substance
(mol dm-3), f is the observed shift in the frequency of the reference compound (Hz) and f is the frequency
of the spectrometer (Hz).
In order to determine the difference in chemical shift of the reference compound caused by paramagnetic
compounds, Evans used an NMR tube with a coaxial insert. The NMR tube contains a solution of the
paramagnetic substance with 2% reference substance (t-butanol) and the coaxial insert contains only the
solvent and reference substance. Due to the direction of the magnetic field, this approach does not work
on the Spinsolve. However, due to the stability of the magnet, it is possible to run a separate reference
sample (containing solvent and reference substance) and then run the sample which contains the
paramagnetic substance in solution with reference substance added using the Spinsolve.
In order to determine the electronic structure of a complex, students must determine the effective
magnetic moment, eff, using the following:
Equation 3: e ff = 3k
XmT
N 0 0 B2
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Where k is the Boltzmann constant, N0 is Avogadros number, 0 is the permeability of a vacuum and B is
the Bohr magneton. Since the first term is a constant, the equation can be simplified as:
Where T is the temperature in Kelvin and Xm is the molar susceptibility determined by Evans method. The
theoretical magnetic moment can be determined using the number of unpaired electrons on the metal
atom of a complex, n, using the following:
Equation 5: e ff = n(n + 2)
For example, a low spin Fe2+ complex is diamagnetic, thus n = 0 and the effective magnetic moment is
0 B. Whereas a high spin Fe2+ complex is paramagnetic with four unpaired electrons, hence the effective
magnetic moment would be expected to be 4.90 B. Comparing the theoretical magnetic moment of their
complex with their experimental value, students are able to determine whether their complex is high or
low spin.
The Spinsolve is equipped with a Paramagnetic protocol which allows paramagnetic compounds to
be measured at a higher concentration than in the standard 1D proton protocol. Students first obtain
spectra of their transition metal acac compound which will be informative about whether their complex
is paramagnetic or diamagnetic, and if it is paramagnetic, some indication of the number of unpaired
electrons.
The 1H-NMR spectrum of acetylacetone is also measured as both tautomers exist in solution on the NMR
time scale. Comparison of this with the 1H-NMR spectrum of a diamagnetic acac complex (since the enol
form can be regarded as a complex of H+, the 1H-NMR spectrum is expected to show similarities to a
metal complex) allows students to assign the peaks for each tautomer and determine the keto:enol ratio.
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Experiment
Students will synthesise a diamagnetic and a paramagnetic metal acetylacetonate complex (or
each student synthesises one, and do their analysis in pairs) and obtain a 1H-NMR spectrum using the
Paramagnetic protocol. Evans method is used to determine the number of unpaired electrons and thus
the electronic structure of paramagnetic complexes. The resonances in the 1H-NMR spectrum of the
diamagnetic complex are assigned. Students also obtain a 1H-NMR spectrum of acetylacetone and
determine the keto:enol ratio by comparison of the spectrum with that of the diamagnetic acetylacetonate
complex.
Safety
Ammonium hydroxide is corrosive and may cause burns, avoid contact with skin. Petroleum ether,
t-butanol and methanol are highly flammable, use in a fume hood and keep away from sources of ignition.
Deuterated chloroform is toxic, do not ingest or inhale.
Al3+ Complex
Recrystallise a small sample from warm petroleum ether. The resulting needles should be filtered using
Buchner filtration, rinsed with small portions of cold petroleum ether and dried in a vacuum desiccator.
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Obtain a 1H-NMR spectrum of
the product in chloroform-d
using the Paramagnetic
protocol on the Spinsolve
(Powerscan = 2 minutes,
40 scans).
7.26 CDCl3
5.47
1.99
0.91
6.20
7 6 5 4 3 2 1
f1 (ppm)
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 -1
f1 (ppm)
The 1H-NMR spectrum of Al(acac)3 (Figure 3) has sharp resonances in the region between 0 8 ppm,
typical for most molecules. From this it can be determined that the complex is diamagnetic, which is
expected as Al3+ has the electron configuration of neon and thus no unpaired electrons.
The integrals of the two resonances (inset, Figure 3) show a 1:6 relationship, thus the peak at 5.47 that
integrates for one proton corresponds to the CH while the peak at 1.99 that integrates for 6 protons
corresponds to the two methyl groups (Figure 2).
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Co3+ Complex
To a conical flask, add 2.5 g of cobalt carbonate and 20 mL of acetylacetone and heat to 90C with
stirring. While heating, add dropwise 30 mL of a 10% hydrogen peroxide solution, covering the flask with
a watch glass between additions. The complete addition of hydrogen peroxide should take around 30
minutes. Continue to heat for a further 15 minutes, followed by cooling in an ice bath. The dark green
precipitate is filtered using Buchner filtration, sucked dry at the water pump and then dried in the oven
(100C). Determine the percentage yield of the dry product.
Recrystallise a small sample from hot petroleum ether. The resulting green needles should be filtered using
Buchner filtration, rinsed with small portions of cold petroleum ether and dried in a vacuum desiccator.
Obtain a 1H-NMR spectrum of the product in chloroform-d using the Paramagnetic protocol on the
Spinsolve (Powerscan = 2 minutes, 40 scans).
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7.26 CDCl3
5.52
2.18
0.92
6.15
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
f1 (ppm)
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 -1
f1 (ppm)
The 1H-NMR spectrum of Co(acac)3 (Figure 4) has sharp resonances much like the aluminium
complex. From this it can be determined that the complex is diamagnetic. Octahedral Co(III) centres
have two possible electron configurations, high spin or low spin (Figure 5). The high spin complex
has 4 unpaired electrons and would therefore be paramagnetic. The low spin complex has no
unpaired electrons which is diamagnetic, thus the cobalt complex adopts a low spin configuration.
The integrals of the two resonances (inset, Figure 4) show a 1:6 relationship, thus the peak at 5.52 that
integrates for one proton corresponds to the CH while the peak at 2.18 that integrates for 6 protons
corresponds to the two methyl groups (Figure 2).
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Mn3+ Complex
Dissolve 2.6 g of manganese chloride (MnCl2 4 H2O) and 6.8 g of sodium acetate in 100 mL of distilled
water and add 10 mL acetylacetone. Dissolve 0.52 g of potassium permanganate (KMnO4) in 25 mL of
distilled water and add to the acetylacetonate solution, with stirring, over a period of about 10 minutes.
After stirring for 10 minutes, add a solution of sodium acetate (6.3 g) in 25 mL distilled water, with stirring,
over a period of about 10 minutes. Continue stirring and heat the flask on a hot plate to 60-70C for
15 minutes, followed by cooling to room temperature and finally placed in an ice bath. Using Buchner
filtration, filter the dark precipitate using small portions of cold distilled water for washing, followed by
drying in a vacuum desiccator. Determine the percentage yield of this dry product.
Recrystallise a small sample from warm petroleum ether. The resulting black needles should be filtered
using Buchner filtration, rinsed with small portions of cold petroleum ether and dried in a vacuum
desiccator.
Obtain a 1H-NMR spectrum of the product in chloroform-d using the Paramagnetic protocol on the
Spinsolve (Powerscan = 2 minutes, 40 scans).
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31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 -1 -2
f1 (ppm)
The 1H-NMR spectrum of Mn(acac)3 (Figure 6) contains broad and downfield resonances which suggests
that the complex is paramagnetic. Octahedral Mn(III) centres have two possible electron configurations,
high spin or low spin (Figure 7). Mn(III) is d4, thus both configurations have unpaired electrons and would
therefore be paramagnetic.
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Evans method is used to determine the magnetic moment and therefore electronic structure of Mn(acac)3.
Accurately weigh approximately 5 mg of complex into an NMR tube and add 0.5 mL of solvent that has
been made up with 10% t-butanol in CDCl3. Prepare a reference sample containing 0.5 mL of the 10%
t-butanol in CDCl3 solution. Shim the Spinsolve using Quick Shim and measure the reference sample
using Quick Scan (1 scan, 10 seconds) in the 1D Proton protocol.
57.87
37.76
Reference Sample
Reference + Mn(acac)3
Figure 8: 1H-NMR spectrum of the reference sample (black) and the reference with
Mn(acac)3 (red) overlaid. The peaks are labelled in Hz.
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Calculations
Molar susceptibility:
[Mn(acac)3] = 0.028 mol dm-3
f = 57.87 37.76 = 20.11 Hz
f = 42,500,000 Hz
Using Equation 2, Xm = 1.00 x 10-7 m3 mol-1.
The high spin complex has four unpaired electrons and the low spin complex has two. Use Equation
5 to estimate the expected effective magnetic moment for each electronic structure.
High spin, n = 4
eff = 4.90 B
Low spin, n = 2
eff = 2.83 B
The magnetic moment of the high spin complex is much closer to the experimental value, therefore
it can be determined that the complex is high spin.
Fe3+ Complex
Dissolve 3.3 g of iron(II) chloride (FeCl2 6 H2O) in 25 mL distilled water. Over a period of 15 minutes, with
stirring, add a solution of 4 mL of acetylacetone in 10 mL methanol. To the resulting red mixture, add a
solution of 5.1 g sodium acetate in 15 mL distilled water which should result in a red precipitate. Heat
the reaction to 80C for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and when cool, place in an ice bath. Filter the
product using Buchner filtration, wash with cold distilled water and dry in a vacuum desiccator. Determine
the percentage yield of the dry product.
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Iron(II) chloride Tris(acetylacetonato)iron
Recrystallise a small sample from warm methanol. The resulting red crystals should be filtered using
Buchner filtration, rinsed with small portions of cold methanol and dried in a vacuum desiccator.
Obtain a 1H-NMR spectrum of the product in chloroform-d using the Paramagnetic protocol on the
Spinsolve (Powerscan = 2 minutes, 40 scans).
60 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 -5
f1 (ppm)
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Like the manganese complex, the 1H-NMR spectrum of Fe(acac)3 (Figure 9) contains broad, downfield
resonances, suggesting that the complex is paramagnetic. Octahedral Fe(III) centres have two possible
electron configurations, high spin or low spin (Figure 10). Fe(III) is d5, thus both configurations have
unpaired electrons and would therefore be paramagnetic.
Evans method is used to determine the magnetic moment and therefore electronic structure of
Fe(acac)3 using the same method as described for the manganese complex.
16.84
57.85
Reference Sample
Reference + Fe(acac)3
Figure 11: 1H-NMR spectrum of the reference sample (black) and the reference with Fe(acac)3 (red) overlaid. The
peaks are labelled in Hz.
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Calculations
Molar susceptibility:
[Fe(acac)3] = 0.040 mol dm-3
f = 57.85 16.84 = 41.01 Hz
f = 42,500,000 Hz
Using Equation 2, Xm = 1.46 x 10-7 m3 mol-1.
The high spin complex has five unpaired electrons and the low spin complex has one. Use Equation 5 to
estimate the expected effective magnetic moment for each electronic structure.
High spin, n = 5
eff = 5.92 B
Low spin, n = 1
eff = 1.73 B
The magnetic moment of the high spin complex is much closer to the experimental value, therefore it can
be determined that the complex is high spin.
Cu2+ Complex
In a conical flask, dissolve 4 g copper(II) chloride (CuCl2 6 H2O) in 25 mL distilled water. Over a period
of 10 minutes with stirring, add a solution of 5 mL acetylacetone in 10 mL of methanol. To the resulting
mixture, add over 5 minutes 6.8 g of sodium acetate dissolved in 15 mL of water. Heat the reaction to
80C for 15 minutes, followed by cooling in an ice bath. Filter the blue-grey precipitate using Buchner
filtration, wash with cold distilled water and dry in an oven (100C). Determine the percentage yield of the
dry product.
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Copper chloride Bis(acetylacetonato)copper
Recrystallise a small sample from methanol. The resulting blue-grey needles should be filtered using
Buchner filtration, rinsed with small portions of cold methanol and dried in a vacuum desiccator.
Obtain a 1H-NMR spectrum of the product in chloroform-d using the Paramagnetic protocol on the
Spinsolve (Powerscan = 2 minutes, 40 scans).
30 28 26 24 22 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 -2 -4 -6 -8 -10
f1 (ppm)
Like the manganese and iron complexes, the 1H-NMR spectrum of Cu(acac)2 (Figure 12) contains broad
resonances, suggesting that the complex is paramagnetic. Cu(II) is d9, therefore it must have 1 unpaired
electron.
Evans method is used to determine the magnetic moment of Cu(acac)2 using the same method as
described for the manganese and iron complexes.
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49.99
57.44
Reference Sample
Reference + Cu(acac)2
3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0 -0.5 -1.0
f1 (ppm)
Figure 13: 1H-NMR spectrum of the reference sample (black) and the reference with Cu(acac)2 (red) overlaid. The
peaks are labelled in Hz.
Calculations
Molar susceptibility:
[Cu(acac)2] = 0.076 mol dm-3
f = 57.44 49.99 = 7.45 Hz
f = 42,500,000 Hz
Using Equation 2, Xm = 1.38 x 10-8 m3 mol-1.
Use Equation 5 to estimate the expected effective magnetic moment for Cu(II), which is a d9 complex and
therefore 1 unpaired electron.
n=1
eff = 1.73 B
The estimated magnetic moment agrees well with the experimentally determined value.
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Additional complexes:
(VO)2+ Complex
To a round-bottom flask, add 5 mL distilled water, followed by slow addition of concentrated H2SO4.
Then add 12 mL ethanol then 2.5 g vanadium pentoxide (V2O5). Fit the round bottom flask with a
condenser and reflux for 90 minutes, which should result in a dark blue-green solution. Allow the mixture
to cool and filter using cotton wool, discarding any solid residue. With stirring, add 6 mL of acetylacetone
dropwise. To neutralise the solution, add it carefully with stirring to a large conical flask containing 20 g
anhydrous sodium carbonate dissolved in 150 mL distilled water. The mixture should be cooled in an
ice bath and the resulting precipitate filtered using Buchner filtration. Wash the solid with cold distilled
water and dry the product in a vacuum desiccator. Determine the percentage yield of this dry product.
Dissolve a small portion of the product (about 0.5 g) in 6 mL dichloromethane and carefully decant from
any residue. Add 20 mL of petroleum ether, swirl the mixture and allow to stand for 10 minutes. Filter the
product using Buchner filtration, rinse with cold petroleum ether and dry in a vacuum desiccator.
Cr3+ Complex
To a conical flask, add 1.4 g chromium(III) chloride (CrCl3 6 H2O) and dissolve it in 50 mL distilled water.
In 3 or 4 portions, add 10 g urea with stirring. Add 3 mL acetylacetone, cover with a watch glass and
heat to 80-90C. Initially the solution should be very dark, but as the reaction proceeds, maroon crystals
start to form. After 90 minutes of heating cool the reaction mixture and filter the precipitate using Buchner
filtration. Do not rinse the product. Dry the product in air and record the percent yield. Dissolve a small
sample in boiling petroleum ether, decant the solution, and reduce the volume by half. Cool the solution in
an ice bath, filter the crystals using Buchner filtration and suck dry at the water pump.
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Acetylacetone Tautomerisation
Place 5 drops of acetylacetone in an NMR tube and add 0.5 mL CDCl3. Obtain a 1H-NMR spectrum of the
sample using Quick Scan (1 scan, 10 seconds) in the 1D Proton protocol.
5.37
3.46
2.07
1.88
7.26
8.0 7.5 7.0 6.5 6.0 5.5 5.0 4.5 4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0
f1 (ppm)
The 1H-NMR spectrum of acetylacetone (Figure 14) contains four resonances, 5.37, 3.46, 2.07 and
1.88. This is evidence that both the keto and enol tautomers are present in solution. Since the enol form
of acetylacetone can be regarded as a complex of H+ (in place of a metal), compare the spectrum above
to that of Al(acac)3 or Co(acac)3.
The chemical shifts of the methyl groups ( 1.88 and 2.07) in the 1H-NMR spectrum of acetylacetone
are similar, however the remaining resonances are very different ( 5.37 and 3.46). The CH proton on
the backbone of the ligand in the aluminium and cobalt complexes is around 5 ppm. This means the
resonance at 5.37 is the CH proton of the enol tautomer. This tautomer, like the metal complexes, has a
1:6 peak relationship (one CH and two equivalent methyl groups) thus the resonances 5.37 and 1.88
correspond to the enol tautomer. This leaves the resonances 3.46 and 2.07 as the keto tautomer. In
this tautomer, the backbone carbon has two protons attached, thus the ratio between the two peaks is
1:3, which is observed in the spectrum.
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With the resonances in the spectrum assigned to each tautomer, the keto:enol ratio can be calculated.
The CH of the enol tautomer and CH2 of the keto tautomer are well separated, therefore their integrals can
be used to determine the ratio.
Integrate the peaks at 5.37 and 3.46 and divide the keto integral by two, the number of protons it
accounts for in the molecule (Figure 15).
5.37
3.46
Enol
Keto
1.00
0.36
Figure 15: Determination of keto:enol ratio using the backbone protons of the tautomers of
acetylacetone.
The keto resonance ( 3.46) has an integral of 0.36, thus normalising to correspond this to concentration
(dividing by two) gives 0.18. Therefore the keto:enol ratio is about 1:6 in choroform.
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References
1) Glidewell, C. Metal Acetylacetonate Complexes: Preparation and Characterisation. In Inorganic
Experiments, Third Edition; Woolins, D., Ed.; Wiley-VCH: Weinheim, Germany, 2010; pp 109-119.
4) Schubert, E. M. Utilizing the Evans Method with a Superconducting NMR Spectrometer in the
Undergraduate Laboratory. J. Chem. Ed. 1992, 69 (1), 62.
5) Greenaway, A. M.; Trail, L. E. Magnetic Susceptibility: A Practical Introduction. J. Chem. Ed. 1983,
8, 681-682.
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