Electronic effects in osmylation reactions accelerated by pyridine and quinuclidine derivatives were investigated by varying the substituents on the amine ligand as well as on the alkene substrate. Ligand substituent effects were gauged by determination of the equilibrium constants for coordination of the amines to OsO 4 , evaluation of structural properties and reduction potentials of the amine-OsO 4 complexes, and analysis of the kinetics of osmylations in the presence of the amines. Substrate substituent effects were gauged by kinetic Hammett studies using several different amine/alkene combinations. Nonlinear Hammett relationships resulting from alkene substituent effects were observed, and the deviation from a linear free energy relationship was found to depend on the structure, binding capacity, and concentration of the amine. The results were evaluated in terms of the contending "[3 + 2]" and "[2 + 2]" mechanisms currently under consideration. A change in mechanism that depends on the structural and electronic properties of both alkene and amine is proposed.

Hydridotris(3,5-dimethylpyrazolyl)boratorhenium(V) diolates cyclorevert to Tp‘ReO3 and alkene at elevated temperatures in nonpolar solvents. Comparison of activation parameters to those of the analogous pentamethylcyclopentadienyl complexes show the former have similar ΔS ⧧'s, but higher ΔH ⧧'s by 2−4 kcal/mol. Computation of the frontier orbitals for this ligand system show that the appropriate acceptor orbital on the metal is pushed to higher energy compared to the case where the ligand is pentamethylcyclopentadienyl, consistent with predictions for the proposed stepwise mechanism of this reaction.

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Cycloreversion of 4-methoxystyrene from the corresponding Tp'Re(O)(diolato) complex (Tp' = hydrido-tris-(3,5-dimethylpyrazolyl)borate) was measured competitively for various isotopomers at 103 degrees C. Primary ((12)C/(13)C) and secondary ((1)H/(2)H) kinetic isotope effects were determined. The primary KIEs were k(12C)/k(13C) = 1.041 +/- 0.005 at the alpha position and 1.013 +/- 0.006 at the beta position. Secondary KIEs were k(H)/k(D) = 1.076 +/- 0.005 at the alpha position and 1.017 +/- 0.005 at the beta position. Computational modeling (B3LYP/LACVP+) located a transition state for concerted cycloreversion of styrene from TpRe(O)(OCH(2)CHPh) exhibiting dramatically different C-O bond lengths. A Hammett study on cycloreversions of substituted styrenes from a series of Tp'Re(O)(diolato) showed dichotomous behavior for electron donors and electron-withdrawing groups as substituents: rho = -0.65 for electron donors, but rho = +1.13 for electron-withdrawing groups. The data are considered in light of various mechanistic proposals. While the extrusion of 4-methoxystyrene is concluded to be a highly asynchronous concerted reaction, the Hammett study reflects a likelihood that multiple reaction mechanisms are involved.