Transition metal reaction pathways, calculation

Numerous quantum mechanic calculations have been carried out to better understand the bonding of nitrogen oxide on transition metal surfaces. For instance, the group of Sautet et al have reported a comparative density-functional theory (DFT) study of the chemisorption and dissociation of NO molecules on the close-packed (111), the more open (100), and the stepped (511) surfaces of palladium and rhodium to estimate both energetics and kinetics of the reaction pathways [75], The structure sensitivity of the adsorption was found to correlate well with catalytic activity, as estimated from the calculated dissociation rate constants at 300 K. The latter were found to agree with numerous experimental observations, with (111) facets rather inactive towards NO dissociation and stepped surfaces far more active, and to follow the sequence Rh(100) > terraces in Rh(511) > steps in Rh(511) > steps in Pd(511) > Rh(lll) > Pd(100) > terraces in Pd (511) > Pd (111). The effect of the steps on activity was found to be clearly favorable on the Pd(511) surface but unfavorable on the Rh(511) surface, perhaps explaining the difference in activity between the two metals. The influence of... 

Co2(CO)q system, reveals that the reactions proceed through mononuclear transition states and intermediates, many of which have established precedents. The major pathway requires neither radical intermediates nor free formaldehyde. The observed rate laws, product distributions, kinetic isotope effects, solvent effects, and thermochemical parameters are accounted for by the proposed mechanistic scheme. Significant support of the proposed scheme at every crucial step is provided by a new type of semi-empirical molecular-orbital calculation which is parameterized via known bond-dissociation energies. The results may serve as a starting point for more detailed calculations. Generalization to other transition-metal catalyzed systems is not yet possible. 

The reaction consists formally of a 1,2 hydrogen shift. Ab initio calculations have been carried out for free HCCH. The transition state resembles the vinylidene and lies 45 kcal.mol 1 above HCCH. A transition metal fragment could favor this path by stabilizing the vinylidene species and all structures relatively close to this structure on the potential energy surface. Alternatively, the transition metal fragment can give entry to a multistep reaction pathway which is no more a 1,2 hydrogen shift. Two paths have been considered. 

In this chapter, theoretical studies on various transition metal catalyzed boration reactions have been summarized. The hydroboration of olefins catalyzed by the Wilkinson catalyst was studied most. The oxidative addition of borane to the Rh metal center is commonly believed to be the first step followed by the coordination of olefin. The extensive calculations on the experimentally proposed associative and dissociative reaction pathways do not yield a definitive conclusion on which pathway is preferred. Clearly, the reaction mechanism is a complicated one. It is believed that the properties of the substrate and the nature of ligands in the catalyst together with temperature and solvent affect the reaction pathways significantly. Early transition metal catalyzed hydroboration is believed to involve a G-bond metathesis process because of the difficulty in having an oxidative addition reaction due to less available metal d electrons. 

Theoretical calculations have been fundamental in solving the controversy on the mechanism for the dihydroxylation of double bonds by transition metal oxo complexes. Nowadays, this topic which was the subject of a controversy just a few years ago seems to be solved in favor of the [3+2] pathway, at least in a vast majority of the cases. Despite this spectacular success there are still a number of open issues for this particular reaction which have not been solved, and which continue to be a challenge for computational chemists. Among this, one can mention the correlation between the nature of the substrate and its reactivity with permanganate, and the mechanisms leading to the proportion of products experimentally observed when CrC Cb is applied. Hopefully, these issues will be solved in the future with the help of theoretical calculations. 

In summary the calculations presented in Ref. [62] represent the missing theoretical link between the phenomena of incoherent and coherent dihydrogen exchange in transition metal hydrides and the PHIP effect. Moreover, PHIP is identified as a powerful and sensitive tool to study reaction pathway effects via analysis of the polarization patterns of the final hydrogenation products. 

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