SUPERCRITICAL FLUID IMPREGNATION OF POLYETHYLENE FILMS, A NEW APPROACH TO STUDYING EQUILIBRIA IN MATRICES - THE HYDROGEN-BONDING OF FLUOROALCOHOLS TO (ETA-5-C5ME5)IR(CO)2 AND THE EFFECT ON C-H ACTIVATION

Polyethylene (PE) film is used as a matrix for studying temperature-dependent equilibria by IR spectroscopy; the film is impregnated with Cp*Ir(CO)2 (Cp*=eta5-C5Me5) using supercritical CO2 and subsequently saturated with HOR(F) (R(F)=(CF3)2CH or (CF3)3C). At 200 K, the equilibrium between Cp*Ir(CO)2 and the hydrogen-bonded complex, Cp*Ir(CO)2...HOR(F), is frozen out and can be disturbed photochemically, because Cp*Ir(CO)2 is more efficient than Cp*Ir(CO)2...HOR(F) for C-H activation of polyethylene.