Ultrafast UV pump/IR probe studies of C-H activation in linear, cyclic, and aryl hydrocarbons.
The photochemical C-H activation reactions of eta(3)-TpRh(CO)(2) (Tp = HB-Pz(3), Pz = 3,5-dimethylpyrazolyl) and CpRh(CO)(2) (Cp = C(5)H(5)) have been studied in a series of linear, cyclic, and aromatic hydrocarbon solvents on a femtosecond to microsecond time scale. These results have revealed that the structure of the hydrocarbon substrate affects the final C-H bond activation step, which is in accordance with the known preference of bond activation toward primary C-H sites. In the case of aromatic C-H activation, the reaction is divided into parallel channels involving sigma- and pi-solvated intermediates. Results for the analogous CpRh(CO)(2) molecule have shown that the coordination of the cyclopentadienyl ligand does not play a direct role in the dynamics of the reaction, in contrast to the C-H activation mechanism observed in eta(3)-TpRh(CO)(2) studies.
Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
Matthew C
MC
Asplund
Preston T
PT
Snee
Jake S
JS
Yeston
Matthew J
MJ
Wilkens
Christine K
CK
Payne
Haw
H
Yang
Kenneth T
KT
Kotz
Heinz
H
Frei
Robert G
RG
Bergman
Charles B
CB
Harris