Complex Reaction Pathways

Ce can be in two oxidation states, Ce3+ and Ce4+, and there are competing reaction pathways. Complex kinetic models are required to predict the oscillatory behavior, the most well known being that of Noyes [e.g., Showalter, Noyes, and Bar-Eli, J. Chem. Phys. 69(6) 2514-2524 (1978)]. 

In addition to the aforementioned general reaction pathways, complexes containing transition metal-Al bonds have been prepared by rather unusual reactions such as that between [Cp Co(C2H4)2] and [Et2AIH], resulting in the formation of the bimetallic complex [ Cp (ri -C2H4)-Co-Al(C2H5) 2] [163]. 

Covalent synthesis of complex molecules involves the reactive assembly of many atoms into subunits with aid of reagents and estabUshed as well as innovative reaction pathways. These subunits are then subjected to various reactions that will assemble the target molecule. These reaction schemes involve the protection of certain sensitive parts of the molecule while other parts are being reacted. Very complex molecules can be synthesized in this manner. A prime example of the success of this approach is the total synthesis of palytoxin, a poisonous substance found in marine soft corals (35). Other complex molecules synthesized by sequential addition of atoms and blocks of atoms include vitamin potentially anticancer KH-1 adenocarcinoma antigen,... 

Piezochromic effects have been observed in a variety of other Cu(II) complexes. In some cases it can be shown that the stmctures of a series of related complexes foUow a reaction pathway with the stmcture of one complex at, for example, 8 GPa (80 kbar) corresponding to that of a related complex at, for example, 2 GPa (20 kbar). The changes in color of the complex, of course, foUow the same sequence. 

A most successful paradigm for isolating reaction pathways in complex systems begins with a definition of the reaction pathway as a continuous line l(r) that connects known reactant Tr and product rp configurations. We then define an integrated cost functional... 

Significant advances are being made in the development of effective methods for determining reaction pathways in complex systems. These methods appear to be the most... 

Many other multisubstrate examples abound in metabolism. In effect, these situations are managed by realizing that the interaction of the enzyme with its many substrates can be treated as a series of uni- or bisubstrate steps in a multi-step reaction pathway. Thus, the complex mechanism of a multisubstrate reaction is resolved into a sequence of steps, each of which obeys the single- and double-displacement patterns just discussed. 

The first reaction pathway for the in situ formation of a metal-carbene complex in an imidazolium ionic liquid is based on the well loiown, relatively high acidity of the H atom in the 2-position of the imidazolium ion [29]. This can be removed (by basic ligands of the metal complex, for example) to form a metal-carbene complex (see Scheme 5.2-2, route a)). Xiao and co-workers demonstrated that a Pd imida-zolylidene complex was formed when Pd(OAc)2 was heated in the presence of [BMIMjBr [30]. The isolated Pd carbene complex was found to be active and stable in Heck coupling reactions (for more details see Section 5.2.4.4). Welton et al. were later able to characterize an isolated Pd-carbene complex obtained in this way by X-ray spectroscopy [31]. The reaction pathway to the complex is displayed in Scheme 5.2-3. 

It can be concluded from the study of Grubbs and Brunck that indeed a metal-carbon cr-complex might be the key intermediate in the metathesis reaction. For the conversion of I into II several reaction pathways can be... 

It is clear that a detailed mechanism for the metathesis reaction of alkenes cannot yet be given with certainty. In view of the fact that, for similar reactions which are formally cyclobutane-dialkene transformations, a nonconcerted reaction pathway has been demonstrated, a concerted fusion of two alkenes to form a cyclobutane complex and its decomposition in the same way with a change in the symmetry plane is less probable. On the basis of the information on the two other mechanisms to date, the mechanism involving a metallocyclic intermediate is more plausible than a mechanism involving carbene complexes. 

For the cyclotrimerization of alkynes, several mechanisms have been proposed. The most plausible ones are a concerted fusion of three ir-bonded alkyne molecules, and stepwise processes involving a cyclobutadiene complex or a five-membered metallocyclic intermediate (98). In the case of the cyclotrimerization of a-alkynes it is possible to discriminate between a reaction pathway via a cyclobutadiene complex and the other reaction pathways, by analysis of the products. If cyclotrimerization proceeds via a cyclobutadiene complex and if steric factors do not affect the reaction,... 

The [3S+1C] cycloaddition reaction with Fischer carbene complexes is a very unusual reaction pathway. In fact, only one example has been reported. This process involves the insertion of alkyl-derived chromium carbene complexes into the carbon-carbon a-bond of diphenylcyclopropenone to generate cyclobutenone derivatives [41] (Scheme 13). The mechanism of this transformation involves a CO dissociation followed by oxidative addition into the cyclopropenone carbon-carbon a-bond, affording a metalacyclopentenone derivative which undergoes reductive elimination to produce the final cyclobutenone derivatives. 

The reaction of alkoxyarylcarbene complexes with alkynes mainly affords Dotz benzannulated [3C+2S+1C0] cycloadducts. However, uncommon reaction pathways of some alkoxyarylcarbene complexes in their reaction with alkynes leading to indene derivatives in a formal [3C+2S] cycloaddition process have been reported. For example, the reaction of methoxy(2,6-dimethylphenyl)chromium carbene complex with 1,2-diphenylacetylene at 100 °C gives rise to an unusual indene derivative where a sigmatropic 1,5-methyl shift is observed [60]. Moreover, a related (4-hydroxy-2,6-dimethylphenyl)carbene complex reacts in benzene at 100 °C with 3-hexyne to produce an indene derivative. However, the expected Dotz cycloadduct is obtained when the solvent is changed to acetonitrile [61] (Scheme 19). Also, Dotz et al. have shown that the introduction of an isocyanide ligand into the coordination sphere of the metal induces the preferential formation of indene derivatives [62]. 

In a similar process, tertiary enaminones react with alkynylcarbene complexes to give the corresponding pyranylidene complexes following a reaction pathway analogous to that described above. First, a [2+2] cycloaddition reaction between the alkynyl moiety of the carbene complex and the C=C double bond of the enamine generates a cyclobutene intermediate, which evolves by a conrotatory cyclobutene ring opening followed by a cyclisation process [94] (Scheme 49). 

The unconventional structure of fulvenes with a unique C=C bond conjugation leads to unusual cycloaddition reactions with other unsaturated systems. For example, alkenylcarbene complexes react with fulvenes leading to indanone or indene derivatives which can be considered as derived from a [6S+3C] cycloaddition process [118] (Scheme 72). The reaction pathway is well explained by an initial 1,2-addition of the fulvene to the carbene carbon followed by [1,2]-Cr(CO)5-promoted cyclisation. 

While diene metathesis or diyne metathesis are driven by the loss of a (volatile) alkene or alkyne by-product, enyne metathesis (Fig. 2) cannot benefit from this contributing feature to the AS term of the reaction, since the event is entirely atom economic. Instead, the reaction is driven by the formation of conjugated dienes, which ensures that once these dienes have been formed, the process is no longer a reversible one. Enyne metathesis can also be considered as an alkylidene migration reaction, because the alkylidene unit migrates from the alkene part to one of the alkyne carbons. The mechanism of enyne metathesis is not well described, as two possible complexation sites (alkene or alkyne) exist for the ruthenium carbene, leading to different reaction pathways, and the situation is further complicated when the reaction is conducted under an atmosphere of ethylene. Despite its enormous potential to form mul-... 

Aminopyridinato ligands form a special class of anionic ligands in which an aromatic ring is part of an amidinate system. These ligands have frequently been employed in early transition metal and lanthanide coordination chemistry. Their diverse and interesting chemistry has been described in detail by Kempe et al. ° and will thus be covered here only briefly. Typical reaction pathways leading to titanium aminopyridinato complexes are outlined in Scheme 169. Metathetical as well as salt-free routes have been developed. 

First of all, the reaction pathways shown in Scheme 1 involve the formation of charge transfer complexes (CTC) between olefin and Br2- The formation of molecular complexes during olefin bromination had been hypothesized often (ref. 2), but until 1985, when we published a work on this subject (ref. 3), complexes of this type had been observed only in a very limited number of circumstances, all of which have in common a highly reduced reactivity of the olefm-halogen system, i.e. strongly deactivated olefins (ref. 4), or completely apolar solvents (ref. 5) or very low temperatures (ref 6). 

The Kumada/Ishikawa group also investigated thermolytic reactions of alkynyl-polysilanes and silacyclopropenes in the presence of nickel catalysts and implicated a 1-silaallene-nickel complex as an intermediate in the reaction pathway... 

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