Benzene, reactions with metal carbonyls

Caution. Reactions with metal carbonyls requiring the use of highly toxic CO or of its evolution from reaction mixtures should be performed in a well-ventilated hood, as also the use of benzene as a solvent due to its toxic nature. 

Bis ( -arene) metal complexes have been made for many transition metals by the AI/AICI3 reduction method and cationic species [M( j -Ar)2]"" " are also well established for n = 1, 2, and 3. Numerous arenas besides benzene have been used, the next most common being l,3,5-Mc3C6H3 (mesitylene) and CeMce. Reaction of arenas with metal carbonyls in high-boiling solvents or under the influence of ultraviolet light results in the displacement of 3CO and the formation of arena-metal carbonyls ... 

Another procedure is the reaction of corrole with metal carbonyls in noncoordinating solvents such as toluene or benzene. Thus Mn2(CO)10, Fe(CO)5 and [Rh(CO)2Cl]2 lead to the formation of the corresponding metal3 + complexes. Also in this method the presence of an axial ligand is essential for the isolation of Rh3+ correlates [21, 24],... 

Reaction of tellurophene with Fe3(CO)l2 in benzene yielded a mixture of compounds not containing the tellurophene nucleus.64 Also the reaction of tetraphenyltellurophene with metal carbonyls is very difficult. In only one experiment with Fe3(CO)I2 was a small quantity of a complex obtained.49 On the basis of its IR spectrum, the structure (C2gH20Te)Fe(CO)j was suggested. 

In view of the excellent donor properties of tertiary arsines, it is of interest to inquire whether these cyc/o-polyarsanes can also act as ligands. Indeed, (MeAs)s can displace CO from metal carbonyls to form complexes in which it behaves as a uni-, bi- or triden-tate ligand. For example, direct reaction of (MeAs)5 with M(CO)6 in benzene at 170° (M = Cr, Mo, W) yielded red crystalline compounds [M(CO)3( -As5Me5)] for which the structure... 

Dimerization reactions of 1-azirines with several transition metal complexes have been studied (76TL2589). Reaction of 2-arylazirines (289) with an equimolar amount of a Group VI metal carbonyl gives 2,5-diarylpyrazines (290) in good yield. On the other hand, these compounds are converted to 2-styrylindoles (291) with rhodium carbonyl compounds or with dicobalt octacarbonyl in benzene. 

This review deals with metal-hydrocarbon complexes under the following headings (1) the nature of the metal-olefin and -acetylene bond (2) olefin complexes (3) acetylene complexes (4) rr-allylic complexes and (5) complexes in which the ligand is not the original olefin or acetylene, but a molecule produced from it during complex formation. ir-Cyclopentadienyl complexes, formed by reaction of cyclopentadiene or its derivatives with metal salts or carbonyls (78, 217), are not discussed in this review, neither are complexes derived from aromatic systems, e.g., benzene, the cyclo-pentadienyl anion, and the cycloheptatrienyl cation (74, 78, 217), and from acetylides (169, 170), which have been reviewed elsewhere. 

The only claim for the production of a metallocarboxylic acid from the insertion of C02 into a metal-hydrogen bond in the opposite sense is based on the reaction of C02 with [HCo(N2)(PPh3)3] (108, 136). The metallocarboxylic acid is said to be implicated since treatment of the product in benzene solution with Mel followed by methanolic BF3 yielded a considerable amount of methyl acetate as well as methyl formate derived from the cobalt formate complex. Metallocarboxylic acid species formed by attack of H20 or OH- on a coordinated carbonyl are considered in the section on CO oxidation. 

The first experiments which were carried out in the author s laboratory on organometallic phase-transfer catalysis were concerned with the reduction of nitrobenzenes (4) to anilines (5) by triiron dodecacarbonyl. Such a conversion was reported to occur in benzene containing methanol at reflux for 10-17 h, with the hydridoundecacarbonyltriferrate anion as the likely key intermediate (16). It was our expectation that the trinuclear iron hydride should be generated by phase-transfer catalysis and if so, effect reduction of nitro compounds (4) under exceedingly mild conditions. Indeed this was the case, as illustrated by the results shown in Table I (17). Not only is the reaction complete in 2 h or less using sodium hydroxide as the aqueous phase, benzene as the organic phase, and benzyltrieth-ylammonium chloride as the phase-transfer catalyst, but it occurs at room temperature and requires less metal carbonyl than when the reaction was... 

Phase-transfer catalysis can effectively promote the substitution of group 6 metal carbonyls by nitrogen, phosphorus, and arsenic ligands. Reaction of M(CO) [M = Cr, Mo, W] with a group 5 ligand and tetra-n-butylammonium iodide in benzene-sodium hydroxide (50%), at 25-80°C... 

All reactions and sample preparations are carried out in an inert-atmosphere enclosure under dry nitrogen. Solvents and reagents are dried in the following manner. Benzene, tetrahydrofuran, and n-pentane are freshly distilled from lithium aluminum hydride pyridine is distilled over barium oxide and tetramethylethylenediamine is distilled over calcium hydride. Solvents used in preparing nmr and infrared samples are degassed by a freeze-thaw technique. Nmr spectra are obtained with torch-sealed nmr tubes. The commercial transition metal carbonyl complexes are recrystallized and vacuum-dried before use. Glassware is routinely flame-dried. 

Consideration of the solvent and gegen ion effects suggests that solvation and coordination effects are important in determining the course of the reaction. When lithium is the gegen ion and in solvents such as CH2CI2, THF, ether, benzene and pentane, the lithium metal is coordinated both with sulphur and with the carbonyl oxygen (cf. 284), thereby... 

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