Binuclear Alkyne Manganese Carbonyls: Their Rearrangements to Allene, Allyl, and Vinylcarbene Derivatives by Hydrogen Migration from Methyl Substituents

Abstract

Binuclear alkyne manganese carbonyls of the type (RC≡CR')Mn2(CO)n (R and R'=methyl or dimethylamino; n=8, 7, 6) and their isomers related to the experimentally known (MeC2NEt2)Mn2(CO)n (n=8, 7) structures have been investigated by density functional theory. The alkyne ligand remains intact in the only low energy (Me2N)2C2Mn2(CO)8 isomer, which has a central Mn2C2 tetrahedrane unit and is otherwise analogous to the well‐known (alkyne)Co2(CO)6 derivatives except for one more CO group per metal atom. The low‐energy structures of the unsaturated (Me2N)2C2Mn2(CO)n (n=7, 6) systems include isomers in which the nitrogen atom of one of the dimethylamino groups as well as the C≡C triple bond of the alkyne is coordinated to the central Mn2 unit. In other low‐energy (Me2N)2C2Mn2(CO)n (n=7, 6) isomers the alkyne C≡C triple bond has broken completely to form two separate bridging dimethylaminocarbyne Me2NC ligands analogous to the experimentally known iron carbonyl complex (Et2NC)2Fe2(CO)6. The (alkyne)Mn2(CO)n (n=8, 7, 6) systems of the alkynes MeC≡CMe and Me2NC≡CMe with methyl substituents have significantly more complicated potential surfaces. In these systems the lowest energy isomers have bridging ligands derived from the alkyne in which one or two hydrogen atoms have migrated from a methyl group to one or both of the alkyne carbon atoms. These bridging ligands include allene, manganallyl, and vinylcarbene ligands, the first two of which have been realized experimentally in research by Adams and coworkers. Theoretical studies suggest that the mechanism for the conversion of the simple alkyne octacarbonyl (MeC2NMe2)Mn2(CO)8 to the dimethylaminomanganaallyl complex Mn2(CO)7[μ‐η4‐C3H3Me2] involves decarbonylation to the heptacarbonyl and the hexacarbonyl complexes. Subsequent hydrogen migrations then occur through intermediates with C−H−Mn agostic interactions to give the final product. Eight transition states for this mechanistic sequence have been identified with activation energies of ∼20 kcal/mol for the first hydrogen migration and ∼14 kcal/mol for the second hydrogen migration.