Via C-H Bond Activation

Note that the main difference between zirconium hydride and tantalum hydride is that tantalum hydride is formally a d 8-electron Ta complex. On the one hand, a direct oxidative addition of the carbon-carbon bond of ethane or other alkanes could explain the products such a type of elementary step is rare and is usually a high energy process. On the other hand, formation of tantalum alkyl intermediates via C - H bond activation, a process already ob-... 

Fuchita, Y., Utsunomiya, Y. and Yasutake, M. (2001) Synthesis and reactivity of arylgold(III) complexes from aromatic hydrocarbons via C—H bond activation. Journal of the Chemical Society, Dalton Transactions, (16), 2330. 

Synthetic Reactions via C-H Bond Activation C-C and C-E Bond Formation... 

---