Although the kinetics of square-planar d8 ligand-substitution reactions have been explored
extensively in solution, no such studies of gas-phase systems have been reported. Measurement of gas-phase ligand exchange offers the advantage that the exchange mechanism is
readily determined in the absence of solvent effects. The complex trans-Rh(PPh3)2CO(4-picoline)+ substitutes pyridine for its 4-picoline ligand readily in the gas phase but also loses
CO during the reaction. The double-resonance experiments show that its primary substitution
pathway proceeds dissociatively, unlike almost all solution ligand substitutions for Pt(II)
and Pd(II). The density functional calculations reveal that the bond energies of Rh-4-picoline,
Rh-pyridine, and Rh−CO are similar enough that CO loss might be expected. In support of
the dissociative mechanism, the calculations also show five-coordinate intermediates for the
associative pathway to be relatively high in energy.