A combined experimental and theoretical study is presented of several ligand addition reactions of the triplet fragments (3)Fe(CO)(4) and (3)Fe(CO)(3) formed upon photolysis of Fe(CO)(5). Experimental data are provided for reactions in liquid n-heptane and in supercritical Xe (scXe) and Ar (scAr). Measurement of the temperature dependence of the rate of decay of (3)Fe(CO)(4) to produce (1)Fe(CO)(4)L (L = heptane or Xe) shows that these reactions have significant activation energies of 5.2 (+/-0.2) and 7.1 (+/-0.5) kcal mol(-1) respectively. Nonadiabatic transition state theory is used to predict rate constants for ligand addition, based on density functional theory calculations of singlet and triplet potential energy surfaces. On the basis of these results a new mechanism (spin-crossover followed by ligand addition) is proposed for these spin forbidden reactions that gives good agreement with the new experimental results as well as with earlier gas-phase measurements of some addition rate constants. The theoretical work accounts for the different reaction order observed in the gas phase and in some condensed phase experiments. The reaction of (3)Fe(CO)(4) with H(2) cannot be easily probed in n-heptane since conversion to (1)Fe(CO)(4)(heptane) dominates. scAr doped with H(2) provides a unique environment to monitor this reaction--Ar cannot be added to form (1)Fe(CO)(4)Ar, and H(2) addition is observed instead. Again theory accounts for the reactivity and also explains the difference between the very small activation energy measured for H(2) addition in the gas phase (Wang, W. et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1996, 118, 8654) and the larger values obtained here for heptane and Xe addition in solution.

The photochemistry of Fe(CO)5 (5) has been studied in heptane, supercritical (sc) Ar, scXe, and scCH4 using time-resolved infrared spectroscopy (TRIR). 3Fe(CO)4 ((3)4) and Fe(CO)3(solvent) (3) are formed as primary photoproducts within the first few picoseconds. Complex 3 is formed via a single-photon process. In heptane, scCH4, and scXe, (3)4 decays to form (1)4 x L (L = heptane, CH4, or Xe) as well as reacting with 5 to form Fe2(CO)9. In heptane, 3 reacts with CO to form (1)4 x L. The conversion of (3)4 to (1)4 x L has been monitored directly for the first time (L = heptane, kobs = 7.8(+/- 0.3) x 10(7) s(-1); scCH4, 5(+/- 1) x 10(6) s(-1); scXe, 2.1(+/- 0.1) x 10(7) s(-1)). In scAr, (3)4 and 3 react with CO to form 5 and (3)4, respectively. We have determined the rate constant (kCO = 1.2 x 10(7) dm3 mol(-1) s(-1)) for the reaction of (3)4 with CO in scAr, and this is very similar to the value obtained previously in the gas phase. Doping the scAr with either Xe or CH4 resulted in (3)4 reacting with Xe or CH4 to form (1)4 x Xe or (1)4 x CH4. The relative yield, [(3)4]:[3] decreases in the order heptane > scXe > scCH4 >> scAr, and pressure-dependent measurements in scAr and scCH4 indicate an influence of the solvent density on this ratio.

The reaction of SiCl4 with an excess of (PPN)N3 (PPN+ = [(Ph3P)2N]+) affords selectively (PPN)2[Si(N3)6] (1). Simultaneous thermal analysis (TG-DTA) shows that the hexaazidosilicate salt is remarkably stable, melting at Tonex = 214 degrees C. Melting of 1 is followed by two distinct exothermic decomposition processes at Ton = 256 and 321 degrees C, the first one involving elimination of N2 and the second one degradation of the PPN cations and evolution of Si(N3)4, N2, and some HN3. The crystal structure of 1 consists of discrete PPN+ cations and S2 symmetric [Si(N3)6]2- anions, which have a very rare, octahedral SiN6 framework and the highest nitrogen content (90%) among the hexaazidometallates reported so far. The IR, Raman, 29Si, and 14N NMR spectra of 1 in CH3CN suggest in combination with the calculated spectra the presence of intact [Si(N3)6]2--anions of S6 symmetry in solution. Geometry optimizations with various methods and basis sets show an S6 symmetric structure to be the most stable [Si(N3)6]2- isomer, the calculated bonding parameters comparing well with the experimental values.

Time-resolved infrared (TRIR) spectroscopy, a combination of UV flash photolysis and fast infrared detection, is a powerful technique for probing excited states and detecting reaction intermediates. In this Perspective we highlight the application of TRIR to excited states by probing the nature of the lowest excited states of fac-[Re(CO) 3 (dppz-Cl 2 )(R)] n؉ (R ‫؍‬ Cl ؊ (n ‫؍‬ 0), py (n ‫؍‬ 1) and 4-Me 2 N-py (n ‫؍‬ 1); dppz-Cl 2 ‫؍‬ 11,12-dichlorodipyrido-[3,2-a:2Ј,3Ј-c]phenazine) in CH 3 CN. The characterisation of [Cr( 6 -C 6 H 6 )(CO) 2 Xe] and [Re( 5 -C 5 H 5 )(CO) 2 (C 2 H 6 )] in supercritical Xe and liquid ethane solution exemplifies how this technique can be applied to detect new organometallic species.

Ideal S2 symmetry is shown by the [Ge(N3)6]2− ion (1) in the crystal lattice of the [N(PPh3)2] salt, whereas density functional calculations predict an S6‐symmetric minimum structure for 1. Short interionic Na−N contacts lead to a reduction of the symmetry of the anion to C1 in crystalline [Na2(thf)3(Et2O)][Ge(N3)6], the product of the reaction of GeCl4 with NaN3. With Lewis bases, 1 reacts to give derivatives of the long sought after tetraazide Ge(N3)4 (2; L$\hskip -0.4 em\vskip -0.68em\frown\hskip -0.4 em$L=2,2′‐bipyridine, 1,10‐phenanthroline).

The impact sensitivity of energetic materials is successfully predicted using an ab initio model based on the concepts of phonon up-pumping.

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We have used fast time-resolved infrared spectroscopy to characterize a series of organometallic methane and ethane complexes in solution at room temperature: W(CO)5(CH4) and M( 5 OC5R5)(CO)2(L) [where M ‫؍‬ Mn or Re, R ‫؍‬ H or CH3 (Re only); and L ‫؍‬ CH4 or C 2 H 6 ]. In all cases, the methane complexes are found to be short-lived and significantly more reactive than the analogous nheptane complexes. Re(Cp)(CO)2(CH4) and Re(Cp*)(CO)2(L) [Cp* ‫؍‬ 5 OC5(CH3)5 and L ‫؍‬ CH4, C2H6] were found to be in rapid equilibrium with the alkyl hydride complexes. In the presence of CO, both alkane and alkyl hydride complexes decay at the same rate. We have used picosecond time-resolved infrared spectroscopy to directly monitor the photolysis of Re(Cp*)(CO)3 in scCH4 and demonstrated that the initially generated Re(Cp*)(CO)2(CH4) forms an equilibrium mixture of Re(Cp*) ( T here is considerable interest in sigma-bonded organometallic alkane complexes, particularly since they have been identified as key intermediates in the transition metal-mediated COH activation process (1-3). Although such complexes generally are very short-lived intermediates (4), they have been known for over 30 years. Early experiments involved the photolysis of complexes such as Cr(CO) 6 and Fe(CO) 5 to generate the unstable intermediates Cr(CO) 5 or Fe(CO) 4 in low-temperature matrices, where coordination to cocondensed CH 4 results in the formation of Cr(CO) 5 (CH 4 ) and Fe(CO) 5 (CH 4 ) (5, 6).Flash photolysis experiments have demonstrated that the photolysis of Cr(CO) 6 in cyclohexane solution at room temperature forms Cr(CO) 5 (cyclohexane) (7). Subsequently, several examples of alkane complexes in solution have been reported, and studies on the mechanism of the COH activation process have clearly demonstrated the role of these complexes in oxidative addition reactions (1,8,9). Time-resolved infrared (TRIR) spectroscopy has proved to be a powerful tool for the study of metal carbonyl alkane complexes. Their reactivity decreases on going both across and down groups 5, 6, and 7 (10-12), and these observations led to the identification of a very long-lived alkane complex, Re(Cp)(CO) 2 (nheptane) (Cp ϭ 5 OC 5 H 5 ), which has a lifetime of Ϸ25 ms at room temperature (13). The relative stability of Re(Cp)(CO) 2 (alkane) complexes allowed Re(Cp)(CO) 2 (C 5 H 10 ) to be observed at 180 K by NMR spectroscopy (14), and subsequent NMR studies have been carried out to determine the binding modes of a series of related alkanes to the Re(CpЈ)(CO) 2 moiety (15, 16).The activation of methane is of particular interest because of the potential of using this abundant hydrocarbon as both an energy source and chemical feedstock (17). Organometallic methane complexes have been characterized in low-temperature matrix isolation experiments (5,6,18). In solution, the existence of methane complexes has been inferred by examining product ratios and from the rates of COH activation and reductive elimination reactions in isotopic labeling experiments (19).The lifetime of the...