Isomerization bipyramidal forms

Several interesting observations have been made on this reaction. First, the rate of isomerization was found to be the same as the rate of dehydration. All attempts to dehydrate the starting complex by conventional techniques were found to lead to isomerization. On the basis of this and other evidence, the mechanism proposed involves the aquation in the complex followed by anation. In this process, water first displaces Cl- in the coordination sphere and then is displaced by the Cl-, possibly by an SN1 mechanism. A trigonal bipyramid transition state could account for the Cl- reentering the coordination sphere to give an cis product. The rate law for this reaction is of the form... 

The actual structures are likely to involve frustrated competition among several such equally unsatisfactory isomeric forms (none resembling the D3h trigonal bipyramid). 

To investigate whether a relationship exists between the solution structures of the hydridorhodium diphosphite species [RhH(CO)2(diphosphite)] [48] and catalytic performance, van Leeuwen and co-workers extensively studied the rhodium-diphosphite complexes formed under hydroformylation conditions by high-pressure NMR (HPNMR) techniques. It is well known that these complexes have a trigonal bipyramidal (TBP) structure. Two isomeric structures of these complexes, one containing the diphosphite coordinated in a bis-equatorial (ee) fashion and one containing the diphosphite in an equatorial-axial (ea) fashion, are possible (Fig. 4). 

Tetracoordinate sulfur compounds containing a lone pair of electrons at sulfur possess a more or less distorted trigonal-bipyramidal structure, in common with the vast majority of other pentacoordinated molecules of the main group elements (189,191,199). A common name, sulfurane, is generally accepted for this type of compound. In principle, sulfuranes are chiral. However, both the number of optically active isomers and their optical stability depend on the nature of substituents bonded to the central sulfur atom, the apicophilicity of the substituents, and the energy required for permutational isomerization processes. In this context it is interesting to note that acyclic sulfuranes with four different ligands should exist in 20 isomeric forms. 

Both five-coordinate and four-coordinate pathways have been proposed for these reactions. The associative (five-coordinate) mechanism involves the formation of a trigonal bipyramidal or square pyramidal intermediate, which can revert back to tetracoordination by alkene insertion into the Pt—H bond.151 The dissociative (four-coordinate) mechanism involves initial substitution of a ligand other than hydride by alkene, followed by insertion to form the alkyl product. The ligand which is substituted is usually the anionic ligand, and if this group is trans to hydride an isomerization will need to occur prior to insertion of the coordinated alkene into the Pt—H bond. 

In reality, two compounds are formed,52 the five- and a six-membered rings shown to arise from the E and Z forms of the O-trimethylsilylated derivative of the starting acylhydrazine.53 Moreover, the six-membered chelate isomerized irreversibly upon heating into the five-membered chelate.54 The six-membered chelate has also been shown to exhibit a trigonal bipyramidal silicon atom.55... 

Ni(CN)4l" and even two different isomeric forms of [NifCNIs]- ", one a trigonal bipyramid, the other a square pyramid. 

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