Thermal ring-closure reactions of pentacarbonylmetal complexes
with bidentate N−N
ligands were studied in detail in the past using photochemical
techniques to produce these
species in solution prior to the actual reaction. Some of the
monodentate pentacarbonylchromium complexes have now been isolated and enable a detailed
reinvestigation of the
thermal chelation reaction of Cr(CO)5(N−N)
(N−N = 1,4-diisopropyl-1,4-diazabutadiene, 4,4‘-dimethyl-2,2‘-bipyridine). The reactions were studied as a function
of [N−N], temperature,
and pressure. The unexpected ligand concentration dependence, viz.
a decrease in observed
rate constant with increasing [N−N], can be accounted for in terms
of competitive reactions
leading to the formation of Cr(CO)6 and chelated
Cr(CO)4(N−N). At high [N−N] the
limiting
rate constant represents only the chelation reaction, for which the
observed activation
volumes are between +13 and +18 cm3
mol-1. These strongly support the
operation of a
dissociatively activated chelation mechanism.