CHEMISTRY WITHOUT SOLVENTS - PROPERTIES AND REACTIONS OF ORGANOMETALLIC COMPLEXES IN THE GAS-PHASE

The application of ion cyclotron resonance spectroscopy to the study of organometallic reactions is described. Methodology is outlined for the determination of metal-hydrogen, metal-carbon and metal-ligand bond dissociation energies and representative results are given. These data are of fundamental importance in understanding the reactions of organic molecules at transition metal centers. Decarbonylation of aldehydes and dehydrogenation of alkanes are treated as examples of oxidative addition processes. Elimination of methane from hydrido methyl complexes exemplifies the study of reductive elimination reactions Additional examples include studies of the acylation and alkylation of metal complexes, and the reactions of molecular hydrogen with several coordinatevely unsaturated species. © 1979, Walter de Gruyter. All rights reserved.