Mechanistic Studies of Catalytic Reactions Using Spectroscopic and Kinetic Techniques

Abstract

The rapid growth of the organometallic chemistry of the transition metals during the last 15–20 years owes much to the development of homogeneous catalyst systems which are capable of synthesizing organic molecules under mild conditions and occasionally with remarkable selectivities. Several have been commercialized and are now used on a large scale. (1) A few have received considerable detailed study—including spectroscopic identification of the species present in solution under reaction conditions, isolation of reactive intermediates in some cases, determination of the overall rate law and measurement of rate and equilibrium constants of several individual steps, and isotopic labeling studies—so that we have a reasonably clear picture of how they operate. It is these systems that form the focus of this chapter. For more general reviews the reader is referred to some recent books,(1-3) which also discuss the special electronic properties of transition metals which are in part responsible for their catalytic behavior.†