Determining Transition State Geometries in Liquids Using 2D-IR

Many properties of chemical reactions are determined by the transition state connecting reactant and product, yet it is difficult to directly obtain any information about these short-lived structures in liquids. We show that two-dimensional infrared (2D-IR) spectroscopy can provide direct information about transition states by tracking the transformation of vibrational modes as a molecule crossed a transition state. We successfully monitored a simple chemical reaction, the fluxional rearrangement of Fe(CO)5, in which the exchange of axial and equatorial CO ligands causes an exchange of vibrational energy between the normal modes of the molecule. This energy transfer provides direct evidence regarding the time scale, transition state, and mechanism of the reaction

DFT and time-resolved IR investigation of electron transfer between photogenerated 17- and 19-electron organometallic radicals

The photochemical disproportionation mechanism of [CpW(CO){sub 3}]{sub 2} in the presence of Lewis bases PR{sub 3} was investigated on the nano- and microsecond time-scales with Step-Scan FTIR time-resolved infrared spectroscopy. 532 nm laser excitation was used to homolytically cleave the W-W bond, forming the 17-electron radicals CpW(CO){sub 3} and initiating the reaction. With the Lewis base PPh{sub 3}, disproportionation to form the ionic products CpW(CO){sub 3}PPh{sub 3}{sup +} and CpW(CO){sub 3}{sup -} was directly monitored on the microsecond time-scale. Detailed examination of the kinetics and concentration dependence of this reaction indicates that disproportionation proceeds by electron transfer from the 19-electron species CpW(CO){sub 3}PPh{sub 3} to the 17-electron species CpW(CO){sub 3}. This result is contrary to the currently accepted disproportionation mechanism which predicts electron transfer from the 19-electron species to the dimer [CpW(CO){sub 3}]{sub 2}. With the Lewis base P(OMe){sub 3} on the other hand, ligand substitution to form the product [CpW(CO){sub 2}P(OMe){sub 3}]{sub 2} is the primary reaction on the microsecond time-scale. Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations support the experimental results and suggest that the differences in the reactivity between P(OMe){sub 3} and PPh{sub 3} are due to steric effects. The results indicate that radical-to-radical electron transfer is a previously unknown but important process for the formation of ionic products with the organometallic dimer [CpW(CO){sub 3}]{sub 2} and may also be applicable to the entire class of organometallic dimers containing a single metal-metal bond

The mechanism for iron-catalyzed alkene isomerization in solution

Here we report nano- through microsecond time-resolved IR experiments of iron-catalyzed alkene isomerization in room-temperature solution. We have monitored the photochemistry of a model system, Fe(CO){sub 4}({eta}{sup 2}-1-hexene), in neat 1-hexene solution. UV-photolysis of the starting material leads to the dissociation of a single CO to form Fe(CO){sub 3}({eta}{sup 2}-1-hexene), in a singlet spin state. This CO loss complex shows a dramatic selectivity to form an allyl hydride, HFe(CO){sub 3}({eta}{sup 3}-C{sub 6}H{sub 11}), via an internal C-H bond-cleavage reaction in 5-25 ns. We find no evidence for the coordination of an alkene molecule from the bath to the CO loss complex, but do observe coordination to the allyl hydride, indicating that it is the key intermediate in the isomerization mechanism. Coordination of the alkene ligand to the allyl hydride leads to the formation of the bis-alkene isomers, Fe(CO){sub 3}({eta}{sup 2}-1-hexene)({eta}{sup 2}-2-hexene) and Fe(CO){sub 3}({eta}{sup 2}-1-hexene){sub 2}. Because of the thermodynamic stability of Fe(CO){sub 3}({eta}{sup 2}-1-hexene)({eta}{sup 2}-2-hexene) over Fe(CO){sub 3}({eta}{sup 2}-1-hexene){sub 2} (ca. 12 kcal/mol), nearly 100% of the alkene population will be 2-alkene. The results presented herein provide the first direct evidence for this mechanism in solution and suggest modifications to the currently accepted mechanism

Direct observation of photoinduced bent nitrosyl excited-state complexes

Ground state structures with side-on nitrosyl ({eta}{sup 2}-NO) and isonitrosyl (ON) ligands have been observed in a variety of transition-metal complexes. In contrast, excited state structures with bent-NO ligands have been proposed for years but never directly observed. Here we use picosecond time-resolved infrared spectroscopy and density functional theory (DFT) modeling to study the photochemistry of Co(CO){sub 3}(NO), a model transition-metal-NO compound. Surprisingly, we have observed no evidence for ON and {eta}{sup 2}-NO structural isomers, but have observed two bent-NO complexes. DFT modeling of the ground and excited state potentials indicates that the bent-NO complexes correspond to triplet excited states. Photolysis of Co(CO){sub 3}(NO) with a 400-nm pump pulse leads to population of a manifold of excited states which decay to form an excited state triplet bent-NO complex within 1 ps. This structure relaxes to the ground triplet state in ca. 350 ps to form a second bent-NO structure

19-electron intermediates in the Ligand Substitution of CpW(CO)3 with a Lewis Base

Odd electron species are important intermediates in organometallic chemistry