Carbene/carbyne complexes

Metallacyclopent-l-enes have been obtained by formal [2 + 3] cycloaddition of ethylene to Re(CtBu)(CHtBu)(OR)2 (a carbene/carbyne complex) [612]. Nucleophilic tungsten(II) complexes can react directly with cyclopentanone to yield cyclopentylidene complexes [613]. 

Dihalocarbene complexes are useful precursors to new carbenes by nucleophilic displacement of the chlorine substituents. This has been nicely illustrated for Fe(TPP)(=CCl2) by its reaction with two equivalents of Re(CO)5J to give the unusual /t-carbido complex Fe(TPP)=C=Re(CO)4Re(CO)5 which also contains a rhenium-rhenium bond. " The carbido carbon resonance was observed at 211.7 ppm in the C NMR spectrum. An X-ray crystal structure showed a very short Fe=C bond (1.605(13) A, shorter than comparable carbyne complexes) and a relatively long Re=C bond (1.957( 12) A) (Fig. 4, Table III). " ... 

A variety of attempts has been made to model the single steps of the Fischer Tropsch reaction on a molecular level. Naturally, the question of the catalytic activity of intermediate carbene and carbyne complexes has been pursued [4],... 

Carbene and Carbyne Complexes of Ruthenium, Osmium, and Iridium... 

The importance of transition metal carbene complexes (compounds with formal M=C bonds) and of transition metal carbyne complexes (compounds with formal M=C bonds) is now well appreciated. Carbene complexes are involved in olefin metathesis (7) and have many applications in organic synthesis (2), while carbyne complexes have similar relevance to... 

BONDING MODELS AND REACTIVITY PATTERNS FOR TRANSITION METAL CARBENE AND CARBYNE COMPLEXES... 

The wealth of empirical information collected for transition metal carbene and carbyne complexes may be best interpreted within the framework of sound theoretical models for these compounds. Perhaps the most significant contribution made by the theoretical studies of carbene and carbyne complexes concerns an understanding of the reactivity patterns they display. In this section the relationship between bonding and reactivity is examined, with particular emphasis being given to the ways in which studies of Ru, Os, and Ir compounds have helped unify the bonding models applied to seemingly diverse types of carbene and carbyne complexes. 

The chemistry of transition metal-carbyne complexes is rather less developed than the chemistry of carbene complexes. This is almost certainly because reactions which form new carbyne complexes are relatively rare when compared with those forming metal carbenes. The few theoretical studies of carbyne complexes which are available indicate that close parallels exist between the bonding in carbene and carbyne compounds. These parallels also extend to chemical reactivity, and studies of Group 8 complexes again prove instructive. 

Charge. The small amount of charge distribution data for carbyne complexes (based on Mulliken population analyses) indicates that the metal-carbon bond is generally polarized Ms+—C5- and that the carbyne carbon is always more negative than adjacent carbonyl carbons (28,30). These conclusions are directly analogous to those derived for carbene complexes. 

In view of the similarities between the bonding models for carbene and carbyne complexes it is not surprising that similar patterns of reactivity should be observed for these compounds. Thus nucleophilic and electrophilic additions to the metal-carbon triple bond are anticipated under appropriate circumstances, and both orbital and electrostatic considerations will be expected to play a role. 

The similarity, then, between carbene and carbyne complex chemistry of Group 8a transition metals, as well as of Group 6a and 7a metals, is apparent. 

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