Synthesis of Dialkyl- and Alkylacylrhenium Complexes by Alkylation of Anionic Rhenium Complexes at the Metal Center. Mechanism of a Double Carbonylation Reaction That Proceeds via the Formation of Free Methyl Radicals in Solution

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/ja00186a021

The site of alkylation of salts of acylrhenates such as Li(1+)(1-) (1) can be controlled by adjusting the hardness of the alkylating agent.Thus, treatment of 1 with the hard alkylating agent (CH3)3OPF6 gives predominantly the clssical Fischer carbene complex Cp(CO)2Re=C(OCH3)(CH3) (2), whereas reaction with the softer electrophile CH3I leads almost exclusively to the new metal-alkylated complex Cp(CO)2Re(CH3)(COCH3) (3).The structure of 3 has been determined by X-ray diffraction.The availability of this material, a relatively rare example of astable alkylacylmetal complex, has provided an opportunity to study the products and mechanisms of its carbon-carbon bond-forming decomposition reactions.Thermally, the alkyl acyl complex undergoes simple reductive elimination, leading (in the presence of a metal-scavenging ligand L) to a quantitative yield of acetone and CpRe(CO)2(L).Photochemically, a more complicated reaction takes place, especially under 20 atm of CO, where CpRe(CO)3 and 2,3-butanedione are formed.Strikingly, irradiation of Cp(CO)2Re(CH3)2 (9) under 20 atm of CO gives products identical with those formed from 3.Labeling experiments using (13)CO and mixtures of acetyl- and propionylrhenium complexes are inconsistent with a mechanism involving simple migratory CO insertion followed by reductive elimination.They are, however, consistent with metal-carbon bond homolysis leading to methyl and acetyl radicals, followed by carbonylation of the methyl radicals to give a second source of acetyl radicals; these reactive intermediates then dimerize to give 2,3-butanedione.Confirmation of this mechanism was obtained by trapping all the initially formed radicals withhalogen donors.BrCCl3, proved to be much more efficient than CCl4 for this purpose: irradiation of alkyl acyl complex 3 in the presence of BrCCl3 diverted the reaction completely from 2,3-butanedione production, giving instead CH3Br, CH3COBr, Cp(CO)2Re(CH3)Br, and Cp(CO)2Re(CH3CO)Br.