Polar molecules catalyze CO insertion into metal-alkyl bonds through the displacement of an agostic C-H bond

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 116; no. 9; pp. 3419 - 3424
• Main Authors: Zhou, Tian, Malakar, Santanu, Webb, Steven L., Krogh-Jespersen, Karsten, Goldman, Alan S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Academy of Sciences 26.02.2019
• Subjects: Carbon monoxide; Carbonyls; Catalysis; Chemical bonds; Chemical reactions; Computer applications; Coordination compounds; Density functional theory; Displacement; Hydrogen bonding; Hydrogen bonds; Insertion; Isomerization; Metal complexes; Migration; Organic chemistry; Phosphines; Physical Sciences; Reaction kinetics; Tetrahydrofuran; Transition metal compounds; hydrogen bonding; catalysis; agostic; carbonylation; CO insertion

The insertion of CO into metal-alkyl bonds is the key C-C bond-forming step in many of the most important organic reactions catalyzed by transition metal complexes. Polar organic molecules (e.g., tetrahydrofuran) have long been known to promote CO insertion reactions, but the mechanism of their acti...