Tolman’s rule

There are exceptions to Tolman s rule, however [24,25]. For example, if the ligands are very bulky, the 16-electron complex may be sterically hindered, making a 14-electron species the more stable one. The complex Pd[P(ferf-Bu)3]2 is a case in point [26]. Also, a solvent such as benzene can act as electron donor and thereby stabilize a nominally 14-electron complex as a 16-electron solvate [27]. A few reactions appear to proceed through paramagnetic, 17- or 19-electron complexes as intermediates [28,29]. 20-electron species are believed to be formed as intermediates in some associative ligand substitution reactions [30,31]. All such species are much less stable than the corresponding 16- or 18-electron complexes. 

Diamagnetic stable organometallic compounds of metals of groups 4-10 most commonly possess 16 or 18 valence electrons. Tolman broadened this principle to include intermediate compounds formed during chemical reactions. Many stoichiometric and catalytic reactions of organometallic compounds obey Tolman s rule. 

Hydrogenation using Wilkinson s catalyst has been studied in great detail and some features are still not understood. A simplified scheme, based on Tolman s rules is given in Fig. 5.20. 

Criteria and guidelines useful in network elucidation and supplementing the rules derived in this chapter include considerations of steric effects, molecularities of postulated reaction steps, and thermodynamic constraints as well as Tolman s 16- or 18-electron rule for reactions involving transition-metal complexes and the Woodward-Hoffmann exclusion rules based on the principle of conservation of molecular orbital symmetry. Auxiliary techniques that can be brought to bear include, among others, determinations of isomer distribution, isotope techniques, and spectrophotometry. 

With regard to the valence electron count, this number determines whether the transition metal ion is using its full complement of valence shell orbitals— i.e., the five nd s, the (n + l)s, and the three (n + l)p s. If the valence electron count is eighteen, all of the orbitals are fully utilized in bond formation and electron pair storage, the effective atomic number (EAN) rule is fulfilled and the metal ion is said to be saturated. If it is seventeen, the metal ion is covalently unsaturated, and if it is sixteen or less, the metal ion possesses at least one vacant coordination site and is said to be coordinatively unsaturated. The importance of the valence electron count in homogeneously catalyzed reactions has been discussed by Tolman (7). 

---