Green-Taube experiment

The Green-Taube experiment provides an elegant demonstration that a conjugate-base mechanism operates when base hydrolysis (with a fixed concentration of [OH]") of [Co(NH3)5X] + (X = Cl, Br, NO3) is carried out in a mixture of H2( 0) and H2( 0), it is found that the ratio of [Co(NH3)5( OH)]2+ to [Co(NH3)5( OH)] + is constant and independent of X . This provides strong evidence that... 

The first point above is demonstrated by performing the base hydrolysis of [Co(NH3)5Cl] " " in the presence of [N3]-(a competing nucleophile). This experiment produces [Co(NH3)5(OH)] + and [Co(NH3)s(N3)] + in relative proportions that are independent of the concentration of [OH] at a fixed concentration of [N3]- This result is consistent with the facts that in the hydrolysis reaction, the nucleophile is H2O and that [OH]- acts as a base. The second point above is demonstrated by the Green-Taube experiment which shows that a conjugate-base mechanism operates when base... 

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