title: Rhodium(0) metalloradicals in binuclear C-H activation.
abstract: A reactive rhodium(0) metalloradical capable of binuclear activation of an aromatic C-H bond of PPh(3) is disclosed. Kinetic measurements and density functional theory calculations reveal a binuclear mechanism: two metalloradicals add to a 'double bond' of the aromatic substrate while approaching the rate limiting C-H activation step (TS). Such aromatic C-H bond activation with Rh(0) metalloradicals potentially produces kinetically labile Rh(I)-aryl and Rh(I)-H species, and thus, this could become a viable new approach to hydrocarbon functionalization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Applied Biology, ETH-Hönggerberg, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Florian F
authors.initials: FF
authors.lastname: Puschmann
authors.forename: Hansjörg
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Grützmacher
authors.forename: Bas
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: de Bruin