Ion-Beam Studies of the Reactions of Atomic Cobalt Ions with Alkenes

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/ja00412a016

An ion-beam apparatus is employed to study the reactions of singly charged cobalt positive ions with 12 alkenes.While ethene and propene undergo no exothermic reactions, two processes are observed for larger olefins.One reaction yields cobalt ion alkadiene complexes and either methane or H2.The second process involves cleavage of alkene into two smaller olefins, one of which remains bound to Co⁺.A mechanism involving oxidative addition of an allylic C-C or C-H bond to the methal as the initial step is proposed to account for all observed products.Subsequent formation of a cobaltacyclobutane species is postulated for several of the cleavage reactions.