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An investigation of coordinatively unsaturated metal carbonyls using time-resolved infrared spectroscopy

Thesis/Dissertation ·
OSTI ID:5649592

This dissertation details the work done implementing a state of the art (100 ns temporal response with sub wavenumber frequency resolution) time resolved infrared (TRIR) spectrophotometer to study the reactive chemical species produced by pulsed laser photolysis which are proposed to be related to the key intermediates generated in thermal reactions. Photolysis (308 nm XeCl Excimer laser) of ambient temperature isooctane solutions of Ru[sub 3](CO)[sub 12] produced an intermediate proposed to be the Ru[sub 3](CO)[sub 11] species observed by M.S. Wrighton in low temperature matrices. This intermediate was found to react with CO with a second order rate constant, K[sub co], of 2.4 x 10[sup 9] M[sup [minus]1]s[sup [minus]1]. It was also found to react with donating solvents, such as THF, even more rapidly. The reaction with THF, k[sub L], was found to be 6.1 x 10[sup 9] M[sup [minus]1]s[sup [minus]1]. The rate of dissociation, k[sub L], was 2 x 10[sup 6] s[sup [minus]1]. It is of interest that the associative rates are approaching the calculated diffusion controlled limits for bimolecular reactions in isooctane (k[sub d] = 1.3 x 10[sup 10] M[sup [minus]1]s[sup [minus]1]). The second project discussed concerns the nature of intermediates produced in the migratory insertion reaction of CO with the model compounds CH[sub 3]Mn(CO)[sub 5] and CpFe(CO)[sub 2]CH[sub 3]. It was found that the nominally coordinatively unsaturated intermediates were solvated, especially in more donating solvents such as THF. The acyl intermediates, CH[sub 3]COMn(CO)[sub 4](S) and CpFe(CO)(S)COCH[sub 3], were relatively unreactive in cyclohexane, having K[sub co] values of 5.6 x 10[sup 3] M[sup [minus]1]s[sup [minus]1] and <10[sup 5] M[sup [minus]1]s[sup [minus]1], respectively. Rates for isomerization to the corresponding methyl compounds were 6.0 s[sup [minus]1] and 5.7 x 10[sup 4] s[sup [minus]1].

Research Organization:
California Univ., Santa Barbara, CA (United States)
OSTI ID:
5649592
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English