Electrophilic substitution square planar complexes

There are several pathways by which one ligand may replace another in a square planar complex, including nucleophilic substitution, electrophilic substitution, and oxidative addition followed by reductive elimination. The first two of these are probably familiar from courses in organic chemistry. Oxidative addition and reductive elimination reactions will be covered in detail in Chapter 15. All three of these classes have been effectively illustrated by Cross for reactions of PtMeCItPMe-Ph),.-... 

Dissociative mechanisms for square-planar substitutions are discussed in a review. A molecular orbital study of insertion of ethene into Pt—H bonds concludes that the reaction can be best described by a series of, preferably, dissociative steps. Rearrangements of three-co-ordinate ML3 T- or Y-shaped i -structures are discussed in this context. Three-co-ordinate intermediates are also suggested in the mechanisms for palladium(ii)-catalysed oxidations of olefins, and for electrophilic cleavage of platinum-carbon ff-bonds by protons. Parallel associative and dissociative processes have been proposed for a substitution reaction of a square-planar rhodium(i) complex in benzene solution. Especially, sterically crowded complexes have been thought to stabilize three-co-ordinate intermediates more easily. Recently determined activation volumes for sterically hindered square-planar complexes both of platinumand palladium are not compatible with dissociative activation, however. 

A crystal structure determination for this compound showed that while the square planar coordination of palladium is retained, strain within the molecule is relieved by a folding of the ligand239 similar to that described above for salicylaldimine complexes. The fl position of these ligands may be substituted by electrophilic reagents before or after complexation.282... 

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