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Gas-Phase Reactions of Homo- and ... - Institut für Chemie

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Helvetica Chimica Acta ± Vol. 88 (2005) 1415<br />

dehydrogenation <strong>of</strong> butane by Ni ‡ 2 (up to three times), meanwhile atomic Ni ‡<br />

dehydrogenates this substrate only once [18].<br />

In addition to dehydrogenation <strong>of</strong> pentanenitrile by Ni ‡ 2 , ionic products with mass<br />

differences <strong>of</strong> Dm ˆ 29 <strong>and</strong> 30 are observed, which correspond to the combined losses<br />

<strong>of</strong> H 2 ‡ HCN <strong>and</strong> H 2 ‡ C 2H 4, respectively. Except for the combined H 2/HCN<br />

elimination, all other reaction channels <strong>of</strong> Ni ‡ 2 are also observed for CoNi ‡ . While<br />

the reaction efficiency <strong>of</strong> n-C 4H 9CN/CoNi ‡ is the highest among all systems studied, the<br />

major part <strong>of</strong> reactivity is due to single dehydrogenation in the products formed by the<br />

CoNi ‡ cluster, whereas for Ni ‡ 2 mainly double dehydrogenation is observed (Table 2).<br />

The consecutive losses <strong>of</strong> HCN or C 2H 4 after dehydrogenation are proposed to<br />

occur as a result <strong>of</strong> the processes exemplified for Ni ‡ 2 in Scheme 4: after dehydrogenation<br />

<strong>and</strong> subsequent insertion in the C CN bond (21 ! 22) either a b-H (22 ! 23)ora<br />

b-alkyl shift (22 ! 24) take place, both involving an allylic position; because the<br />

product isotope distributions for 11c/Ni ‡ 2 <strong>and</strong> 11d/Ni ‡ 2 are the same, the b-H migration<br />

(22 ! 23) quite probably is reversible.<br />

Scheme 4. Proposed Mechanism for the Eliminations <strong>of</strong> C 2H 4 <strong>and</strong> HCN, Respectively, from Pentanenitrile/Ni ‡<br />

2<br />

Subsequent to Dehydrogenation<br />

The resulting intermediates 23 <strong>and</strong> 24 then lead to the reductive elimination <strong>of</strong><br />

HCN <strong>and</strong> the evaporation <strong>of</strong> C 2H 4, respectively. In agreement with these suggestions,<br />

the product ion [Ni 2C 3H 3N] ‡ , for example, undergoes the secondary Reaction 36 in the<br />

presence <strong>of</strong> pentanenitrile. Quite possibly, the resulting ionic product [Ni 2C 7H 11N] ‡<br />

corresponds to a complex that contains an ethene <strong>and</strong> a pentenenitrile lig<strong>and</strong>, which are<br />

formed in course <strong>of</strong> HCN loss <strong>and</strong> bound to the Ni ‡ 2 core. Future studies are indicated<br />

to shed further light on questions like structural details or reactivity patterns <strong>of</strong> these<br />

novel metal cluster cations.<br />

[Ni 2C 3H 3N] ‡ ‡ n-C 4H 9CN ! [Ni 2C 7H 11N] ‡ ‡ HCN (36)<br />

Insertion <strong>of</strong> a transition-metal cation in a C CN bond has previously been<br />

discussed in a different context [25]. In these studies, the detailed electronic structure<br />

influence <strong>of</strong> the transition-metal cations Fe ‡ through Cu ‡ on their reactivities with 2methylbutanenitrile<br />

were probed <strong>and</strong> three major processes were identified: i) remote<br />

functionalization, ii) initial insertion into the C CN bond ( allylic mechanism ) in

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