โ Scribed by Crabtree, Robert H.
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
An important series of catalytic reactions involve some of the intermediates and pathways discussed in previous chapters. Alkene metathesis (Eq. 12.1), now gaining wide acceptance in organic and polymer synthesis, goes via metal carbene intermediates. Alkene polymerization, a key modern development in polymer synthesis, uses unsaturated alkyl complexes. This catalytic reaction allows an exceptional level of control over the molecular structure and therefore over the polymer properties. The water-gas shift and related reactions are of commercial importance in providing a simple route to H 2 and to acetic acid. C-H activation refers to a class of catalytic reactions in which unactivated C-H bonds are broken. Finally, we look at some organometallic materials.
The alkene metathesis reaction 1 is one of the most original and unusual transformations in chemistry (Eq. 12.1). Remarkably, the strongest bond in the alkene, the C=C double bond, is broken during the reaction. The resulting RHC= fragments are exchanged between the alkenes. Metathesis was originally developed in industry 2 and only applied to simple alkenes because the catalysts then used were intolerant of functionality, and the reaction itself was not widely known to organic chemists. With the development of much more tolerant and versatile catalysts and the wider diffusion of information on the reaction, the number of
๐ SIMILAR VOLUMES
We now look at some of the main methods of identifying a new complex, assigning its stereochemistry, and learning something about its properties. We will look at some applications of the most commonly used spectroscopic and crystallographic methods to organometallic chemistry. Citations to both intr