Photochemical Formation and Electronic Structure of an Alkane σ-Complex from Time-Resolved Optical and X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy

C-H bond activation reactions with transition metals typically proceed via the formation of alkane σ-complexes, where an alkane C-H σ-bond binds to the metal. Due to the weak nature of metal-alkane bonds, σ-complexes are challenging to characterize experimentally. Here, we establish the complete pathways of photochemical formation of the model σ-complex Cr(CO)5-alkane from Cr(CO)6 in octane solution and characterize the nature of its metal-ligand bonding interactions. Using femtosecond optical absorption spectroscopy, we find photoinduced CO dissociation from Cr(CO)6 to occur within the 100 fs time resolution of the experiment. Rapid geminate recombination by a fraction of molecules is found to occur with a time constant of 150 fs. The formation of bare Cr(CO)5 in its singlet ground state is followed by complexation of an octane molecule from solution with a time constant of 8.2 ps. Picosecond X-ray absorption spectroscopy at the Cr L-edge and O K-edge provides unique information on the electronic structure of the Cr(CO)5-alkane σ-complex from both the metal and ligand perspectives. Based on clear experimental observables, we find substantial destabilization of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital upon coordination of the C-H bond to the undercoordinated Cr center in the Cr(CO)5-alkane σ-complex, and we define this as a general, orbital-based descriptor of the metal-alkane bond. Our study demonstrates the value of combining optical and X-ray spectroscopic methods as complementary tools to study the stability and reactivity of alkane σ-complexes in their role as the decisive intermediates in C-H bond activation reactions.

Photochemistry of transition metal carbonyls

The purpose of this Tutorial Review is to outline the fundamental photochemistry of metal carbonyls, and to show how the advances in technology have increased our understanding of the detailed mechanisms, particularly how relatively simple experiments can provide deep understanding of complex problems. We recall some important early experiments that demonstrate the key principles underlying current research, concentrating on the binary carbonyls and selected substituted metal carbonyls. At each stage, we illustrate with examples from recent applications. This review first considers the detection of photochemical intermediates in three environments: glasses and matrices; gas phase; solution. It is followed by an examination of the theory underpinning these observations. In the final two sections, we briefly address applications to the characterization and behaviour of complexes with very labile ligands such as N₂, H₂ and alkanes, concentrating on key mechanistic points, and also describe some principles and examples of photocatalysis.

Recent advances in organometallic alkane and noble gas complexes

Fast time-resolved infrared (TRIR) spectroscopy has been useful for studying the reactions of a wide range of organometallic alkane and noble gas complexes at ambient temperature following irradiation of metal carbonyl precursor complexes. The reactivity of organometallic alkane and xenon complexes decreases both across and down groups V, VI, and VII, and for a given metal/ligand combination the alkane and xenon complexes have similar reactivities. Systematic studies of reactivity have produced long-lived Re complexes which have allowed such complexes to be characterized using NMR spectroscopy. A new approach using liquid propane at low temperature as a solvent to monitor the interaction of such weakly coordinating ligands with transition-metal centers is outlined. TRIR studies monitoring the coordination and activation of methane and ethane in supercritical methane and liquid ethane solvents at room temperature are also reviewed.

Time-resolved infrared (TRIR) study on the formation and reactivity of organometallic methane and ethane complexes in room temperature solution

We have used fast time-resolved infrared spectroscopy to characterize a series of organometallic methane and ethane complexes in solution at room temperature: W(CO)5(CH4) and M(eta5-C5R5)(CO)2(L) [where M = Mn or Re, R = H or CH3 (Re only); and L = CH4 or C2H6]. In all cases, the methane complexes are found to be short-lived and significantly more reactive than the analogous n-heptane complexes. Re(Cp)(CO)2(CH4) and Re(Cp*)(CO)2(L) [Cp* = eta5-C5(CH3)(5) and L = CH4, C2H6] were found to be in rapid equilibrium with the alkyl hydride complexes. In the presence of CO, both alkane and alkyl hydride complexes decay at the same rate. We have used picosecond time-resolved infrared spectroscopy to directly monitor the photolysis of Re(Cp*)(CO)3 in scCH4 and demonstrated that the initially generated Re(Cp*)(CO)2(CH4) forms an equilibrium mixture of Re(Cp*)(CO)2(CH4)/Re(Cp*)(CO)2(CH3)H within the first few nanoseconds (tau = 2 ns). The ratio of alkane to alkyl hydride complexes varies in the order Re(Cp)(CO)2(C2H6):Re(Cp)(CO)2(C2H5)H > Re(Cp*)(CO)2(C2H6):Re(Cp*)(CO)2(C2H5)H approximately equal to Re(Cp)(CO)2(CH4):Re(Cp)(CO)2(CH3)H > Re(Cp*)(CO)2(CH4):Re(Cp*)(CO)2(CH3)H. Activation parameters for the reactions of the organometallic methane and ethane complexes with CO have been measured, and the DeltaH++ values represent lower limits for the CH4 binding enthalpies to the metal center of W-CH4 (30 kJ.mol(-1)), Mn-CH4 (39 kJ.mol(-1)), and Re-CH4 (51 kJ.mol(-1)) bonds in W(CO)5(CH4), Mn(Cp)(CO)2(CH4), and Re(Cp)(CO)2(CH4), respectively.

Reactions of the transient species Cr(CO)5(cyclohexane) with C4HnE (n = 4, 8; E = O, NH, S) studied by time-resolved IR absorption spectroscopy

Time-resolved IR absorption spectroscopy is used to investigate substitution of the cyclohexane (CyH) molecule of the photolytically generated alkane-solvated transient intermediate Cr(CO)5(CyH) by heterocyclic ligands C4HnE (n=4, 8; E=O, NH, S). From the concentration and temperature dependences of the pseudo-first order rate constants, we obtain activation parameters for the reactions, and find that they are consistent with an associative (A) or interchange (I) mechanism. As was the case with ligand substitution reactions at W(CO)5(CyH), a ligand's reactivity depends both on its electron-donating ability and on its polarizability. We also find that for a reaction with a given DeltaH, the activation entropy is higher for reaction of Cr(CO)5(CyH) than it is for reaction of W(CO)5(CyH). Comparison of the present results with ligand substitution reactions of W(CO)5(CyH), CpMn(CO)2(CyH), and Cr(CO)5(n-heptane) indicates that for ligand substitution reactions at alkane-solvated transition-metal intermediates, the solvent's effect upon the reaction rate is primarily entropic.

Insight into Binding of Alkanes to Transition Metals from NMR Spectroscopy of Isomeric Pentane and Isotopically Labeled Alkane Complexes

Alkane complexes of the type Cp'Re(CO)2(alkane) (Cp' = cyclopentadienyl or (isopropyl)cyclopentadienyl; alkane = isotopomers of n-pentane and cyclopentane) have been characterized using NMR spectroscopy following photolysis of Cp'Re(CO)3 in the appropriate alkane at 163-193 K. In the case of n-pentane, three different complexes are observed corresponding to binding of the three different types of carbon in this alkane. ROESY NMR experiments indicate that these isomeric complexes are slowly interconverting intramolecularly at 173 K. The order of the energetically preferred site of coordination is methylene (C2) approximately central methylene (C3) > methyl (C1) but with a spread of <0.2 kcal mol-1. Isotopic perturbation of resonance (IPR) experiments, conducted on several isotopomers of (i-PrCp)Re(CO)2(1-pentane), showed a large shielding of the 1H NMR chemical shift of the proton in a bound CHD2 moiety (delta -3.62) and CH2D (delta -2.64) compared with that of a bound CH3 moiety (delta -1.99). Likewise, the value of 1JCH for the coordinated methyl group of isotopomers of (i-PrCp)Re(CO)2(1-pentane) reduces in the order CH3 > CH2D > CHD2. This suggests that the alkane coordinates in an eta2-C,H fashion with a rapid exchange of bound hydrogen or deuterium within a methyl or methylene group, and that binding of a hydrogen atom is preferred over a deuterium by an amount of 0.23 +/- 0.03 kcal mol-1.