ISSN:
1434-1948
Keywords:
Ab initio calculations
;
EHMO
;
Vinylidene complexes
;
Cobalt
;
Rhodium
;
Chemistry
;
General Chemistry
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Chemistry and Pharmacology
Notes:
The transformation of acetylene into vinylidene, as promoted by the metal fragment [(pp3)Co]+ [pp3 = P(CH2CH2PPh2)3], is unimolecular and features the hydride-acetylide species as an intermediate. The paper describes a detailed ab initio study of the reaction, in particular with regard to the step involving 1,3-H shift. The best computational results are obtained by mimicking the pp3 ligand with actual ethylenic chains rather than with single PH3 molecules. The keypoints along the two-step reaction path (π-acetylene, hydride-acetylide, and vinylidene complexes, as well as intermediate transition states) have been optimized for CoI and RhI derivatives at the MP2 level. For the fragment [(pp3)Co]+, the barrier associated with transformation of the hydride-acetylide intermediate to vinylidene (20.6 kcal/mol) is easier to surmount compared to that for reversion to the reactants (28.6 kcal/mol). The situation is reversed for the analogous RhI system, with the initial π-acetylene adduct being slightly more stable. Although higher in energy, the hydride-acetylide species is the experimentally detected product of the reaction of acetylene with the fragment [(pp3)Rh]+. The salient chemical aspects of the 1,3-H shift are discussed in terms of perturbation theory arguments. Parallel EHMO calculations, which have provided a relatively good consistency with the ab initio results, allow the proposal of an orbital rationale for the mode of migration of the hydride ligand along the substantially linear Co-Cα-Cβ grouping.
Additional Material:
7 Ill.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
