Tungsten reaction with diazoalkanes

An unstable adduct between triphenylphosphine and a photochemically-generated dimethylgermylene has been characterised spectrophotometrically.The first 2,3-dihydro-l,3,2-X -benzodiazaphospholes (73) have been formed in the reactions of triphenylphosphine with g-benzoquinone di-imines stabilised by coordination.A complex of phenylnitrene with a tungsten pentacarbonyl acceptor has been trapped using triphenylphosphine. A kinetic study of the reactions of diazoalkanes with triphenylphosphine, leading to the phosphazenes (74), indicates a biphilic mechanism, the dominant interaction in the transition state involving the diazoalkane as a net electron donor,... 

Lappert and Poland (1969) were the first authors who reported on the discovery and characterization of mononuclear alkyldiazenido complexes by reaction of (tri-methylsilyl)diazomethane with tricarbonyl(cyclopentadienyl)molybdenum hydride and the analogous tungsten hydride. Scheme (10-18) demonstrates that these reactions are not simple substitutions of a carbonyl by a diazenido ligand, but that they are insertions of the diazoalkane into the M-H bond (see also Lappert and Lorberth, 1967). 

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