Hydrogen orbitals decomposition

An explanation for this difference in selectivity of the Ni catalysts is suggested by the studies of Okamoto et al. who correlated the difference in the X-ray photoelectron spectra of various nickel catalysts with their activity and selectivity in hydrogenations (ref. 28,29). They find that in individual as well as competitive hydrogenations of cyclohexene and cyclooctene on Ni-B, cyclooctene is the more reactive while the reverse situation occurs on nickel prepared by the decomposition of nickel formate (D-Ni). On all the nickel catalysts the kinetically derived relative association constant favors cyclooctene (ref. 29). The boron of Brown s P-2 nickel donates electrons to the nickel metal relative to the metal in D-Ni. The association of the alkene with the metal is diminished which indicates that, in these hydrocarbons, the electron donation from the HOMO of the alkene to an empty orbital of the metal is more important than the reverse transfer of electron density from an occupied d-orbital of the metal into the alkene s pi orbital. 

Recent mechanistic discussions of unimolecular decompositions of organic ions have invoked ion—molecule complexes as reaction intermediates [102, 105, 361, 634]. The complexes are proposed to be bound by long-range ion—dipole forces and to be sufficiently long-lived to allow hydrogen rearrangements to occur. The question of lifetime aside, there is more than a close similarity between the proposed ion—dipole intermediate and the assumed loose or orbiting transition state of phase space theory. 

Another test of orbital symmetry comes from the reaction of methyl cations with ketones. ICR experiments have shown at least 10 different pathways for reaction of CD with acetone. One of the minor pathways produces CsHf cation. Thermodynamically it is plausible that the neutral products are formaldehyde and molecular hydrogen, as equation 10 depicts for the orbital-symmetry allowed decomposition of the... 

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