Metathesis and reduction reactions of nitroso compounds with metal carbenes and metal carbonyls

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/0022-328X(89)80121-4

Reaction of nitroso compounds with metal-carbene complexes and metal carbonyls has been investigated.These reactions lead to reduction of the nitroso compounds, primarily to the corresponding azo- and azoxy compounds.Metal-nitrene complexes have been proposed as intermediates in these reactions.These intermediates couple rapidly with the unreacted nitroso compound, or enter into nitrene-like reactions with external or internal trapping agents.Reaction of metal carbonyls with nitrosoarenes and photolysis has been found to be an effective method for the reduction of nitrosoarenes to azoxyarenes, with few problems resulting from overreduction to amines or azo compounds.