Cobalt compounds reaction with H2Os

Co(in) complexes promote similar reactions. When four of the six octahedral positions are occupied by amine ligands and two cis positions are available for further reactions, it is possible to study not only the hydrolysis itself, but the steric preferences of the complexes. In general, these compounds catalyze the hydrolysis of N-terminal amino acids from peptides, and the amino acid that is removed remains as part of the complex. The reactions apparently proceed by coordination of the free amine to cobalt, followed either by coordination of the carbonyl to cobalt and subsequent reaction with OH or H2O from the solution (path A in Figure 12-15) or reaction of the carbonyl carbon with coordinated hydroxide (path B). As a result, the N-terminal amino acid is removed from the peptide and left as part of the cobalt complex in which the a-amino nitrogen and the carbonyl oxygen are bonded to the cobalt. Esters and amides are also hydrolyzed by the same mechanism, with the relative importance of the two pathways dependent on the specific compoimds used. 

Co(NH3)j](N03)2 lost ammonia at 410 K to produce the tetraammine compound which, after a phase transformation (453 K), exploded at about 480 K with the formation of CO3O4, NH3, H2O, N2, and smaller amounts of NO and N2O. The corresponding sulfate apparently lost two molecules of ammonia at 386 K, giving [ 0(14113)4] SO4, and anhydrous cobalt(Il) sulfate was obtained at 613 K. Again the deammination reactions of these salts are significantly influenced by the constituent anion. 

It has long been postulated that these facile reactions occur via formation of a cationic intermediate (upon acid-catalyzed loss of ROH) which can be formulated either as a a-bonded alkylcobalt carbonium ion or a cobalt(III)-olefin m complex. Recently, firm kinetic evidence has been obtained for the occurrence of an intermediate in the acid-catalyzed decomposition of 2-hydroxy- and 2-alkoxyethyl-cobaloximes [94]. Thus, while 2-hydroxyethylcobaloxime decomposes with strictly first-order kinetics in mildly acidic H2SO4/H2O mixtures, the alkoxy derivatives show a substantial lag followed by a first-order decay which is slower than that for the hydroxyethyl complex. In strongly acidic mixtures (//q < —5) all compounds show a rapid burst of absorbance change, followed by a slower first-order decay which is identical for all compounds whether measured spectrophotometrically or manometrically. These observations support the mechanism shown in Eqn. 56. 

Reaction of aromatic nitro compounds with pentacyano-cobaltate(II)/ 0.667 molar KOH in H2O... 

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