Far-UV laser flash photolysis in solution. A study of the chemistry of 1,1-dimethylsilene in hydrocarbon solvents

Photolysis of 1,3,4-trimethyl-1-phenylgermacyclopent-3-ene (5) in hydrocarbon solvents containing isoprene, methanol, or acetic acid affords 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene (DMB) and the expected trapping products of methyl phenylgermylene (GeMePh) in chemical yields exceeding 90%. The germylene has been detected in hexane solution by laser flash photolysis as a short-lived species (τ ~ 2 µs) exhibiting a UV-vis absorption spectrum centered at λmax = 490 nm. It decays with second-order kinetics and a rate constant close to the diffusion-controlled limit, with the concomitant growth of a second longer-lived transient (λmax = 420 nm) that is assigned to a mixture of (E)- and (Z)-1,2-dimethyl-1,2-diphenyldigermene (4). Absolute rate constants have been determined for the reactions of the germylene with primary and tertiary amines (n-BuNH2 and Et3N, respectively), acetic acid (AcOH), a terminal alkyne and alkene, isoprene, DMB, CCl4, and the group 14 hydrides Et3SiH and Bu3SnH. GeMePh is slightly more reactive than GePh2 towards all the reagents studied in this work; both are significantly less reactive than GeMe2 toward the same substrates. Absolute rate constants for the reactions of 4 have also been measured or assigned upper limits in every case and are compared to previously reported values for tetraphenyl- and tetramethyl-digermene with the same reagents.Key words: germylene, digermene, kinetics, laser flash photolysis, germirane, germirene, vinylgermirane, complex, UV–vis spectrum, insertion, addition.

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Kinetic and mechanistic studies of the reactions of diarylgermylenes and tetraaryldigermenes with carbon tetrachloride

Canadian Journal of Chemistry ◽

10.1139/v10-128 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 89 (2) ◽

pp. 241-255 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Lawrence A. Huck ◽

William J. Leigh

Keyword(s):

Rate Constants ◽

Flash Photolysis ◽

Laser Flash Photolysis ◽

Laser Flash ◽

Product Distribution ◽

Major Product ◽

Nucleophilic Attack ◽

Arrhenius Parameters ◽

Rate Determining Step ◽

Hydrocarbon Solvents

The mechanisms of the reactions of diphenylgermylene (GePh2) with CCl4 in hydrocarbon solvents and in THF solution have been studied, employing 3,4-dimethyl-1,1-diphenylgermacyclopent-3-ene (6a) and 1,1-diphenylgermacyclobutane (17) as photochemical precursors to GePh2. In hydrocarbon solvents, the reaction produces Ph2GeCl2 (10) and Ph2Ge(Cl)CCl3 (12) in a ratio of 10:12 ≈ 7, along with a variety of other radical-derived products and small amounts of Ph2GeH(D)Cl (11), which is formed partly by reaction of GePh2 with adventitious HCl. The reaction is much cleaner in THF, where 12 is formed as the major product (10:12 ≈ 0.8); a similar product distribution is obtained in hexanes containing 0.05 mol/L THF, while 12 is the exclusive product in hexanes containing 3 mmol/L NEt3. Rate constants for the reactions of CCl4 with GePh2 and five ring-substituted derivatives were determined by laser flash photolysis, as well as Arrhenius parameters for reaction of the parent (GePh2), in the two solvents. The reactions of GePh2 with CCl4 and CHCl3 have also been studied in 3-methylpentane solution at 78–90 K. Different reaction mechanisms are clearly operative in hydrocarbon and complexing solvents, but both involve modest charge donation from germanium to the substrate in the transition state for the rate-determining step. For the reaction in hydrocarbon solvents, the data are consistent with inner-sphere electron transfer following or in concert with weak Lewis acid–base complexation. A similar mechanism is proposed for the reaction in THF solution, in competition with a second involving nucleophilic attack of the germylene–THF complex at a chlorine atom of the substrate. Rate constants were also determined for reaction of CCl4 with the corresponding tetraaryldigermenes at low halocarbon concentrations in hexanes, along with Arrhenius parameters for the parent (Ge2Ph4). These reactions also proceed via initial Cl-atom abstraction, based on the identity of the products formed in the reaction of CCl4 with tetramesityldigermene.

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Far-UV laser flash photolysis in solution. A time-resolved spectroscopic study of the chemistry of 1,1-dimethyl-1,3-(1-sila)-butadiene

Canadian Journal of Chemistry ◽

10.1139/v97-117 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 75 (7) ◽

pp. 975-982 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Corinna Kerst ◽

Martin Byloos ◽

William J. Leigh

Keyword(s):

Flash Photolysis ◽

Laser Flash Photolysis ◽

Activation Parameters ◽

Laser Flash ◽

Ring Closure ◽

Time Resolved ◽

Decay Rate Constant ◽

Hydrocarbon Solvents ◽

First Order Kinetics ◽

193 Nm

Laser flash photolysis (193 nm) of 1,1-dimethyl-(1-sila)cyclobut-2-ene in hexane solution leads to the formation of a transient species [Formula: see text] assigned to 1,1-dimethyl-1,3-(1-sila)butadiene on the basis of its UV absorption spectrum (λmax = 312 nm), and reactivity toward methanol (kMeOH = (3.6 ± 0.1) × 109 M−1 s−1; kH/kD = 1.3 ± 0.1), ethanol (kEtOH = (2.41 ± 0.06) × 109 M−1 s−1), tert-butanol (kBuOH = (1.8 ± 0.1) × 109 M−1 s−1; kH/kD = 1.5 ± 0.1), and oxygen [Formula: see text]. Experiments using isooctane and acetonitrile as solvent are also described. In acetonitrile, the lifetime of the silene is shortened considerably compared to hydrocarbon solvents, presumably due to quenching by adventitious water. In isooctane, under conditions of low excitation intensity, the siladiene decays with clean pseudo-first-order kinetics and a maximum lifetime of ~ 5 μs at 23 °C. The decay rate constant varies only slightly with temperature over the 20–60 °C range, leading to Arrhenius activation parameters of Ea = 0.5 ± 0.2 kcal/mol and log A = 5.7 ± 0.2. While steady state irradiation experiments suggest that in the absence of silene traps the predominant fate of the silabutadiene is thermal ring closure to regenerate the precursor, it is concluded that the rate constants and activation parameters for decay of the siladiene measured by flash photolysis represent a composite of those due to thermal electrocyclic ring closure (with Ea > ~3 kcal/mol) and reaction with adventitious quenchers (probably water, with Ea < 0). The measured Arrhenius parameters for reaction of the siladiene with methanol in isooctane (Ea = −2.6 ± 0.3 kcal/mol and log A = 7.6 ± 0.3) are consistent with this proposal. The potential and limitations of the use of 193-nm laser excitation for flash photolysis studies in solution are discussed. Keywords: far-UV, silene, flash photolysis, kinetics, electrocyclic.

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