title: Synthesis and characterization of a rhodium(I) σ-alkane complex in the solid state.
abstract: Transition metal-alkane complexes-termed σ-complexes because the alkane donates electron density to the metal from a σ-symmetry carbon-hydrogen (C-H) orbital-are key intermediates in catalytic C-H activation processes, yet these complexes remain tantalizingly elusive to characterization in the solid state by single-crystal x-ray diffraction techniques. Here, we report an approach to the synthesis and characterization of transition metal-alkane complexes in the solid state by a simple gas-solid reaction to produce an alkane σ-complex directly. This strategy enables the structural determination, by x-ray diffraction, of an alkane (norbornane) σ-bound to a d(8)-rhodium(I) metal center, in which the chelating alkane ligand is coordinated to the pseudosquare planar metal center through two σ-C-H bonds.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Chemical Research Laboratories, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Sebastian D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Pike
authors.forename: Amber L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: Andrés G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Algarra
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Apperley
authors.forename: Stuart A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Macgregor
authors.forename: Andrew S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Weller