Kinetic and mechanistic studies on the deoxygenation of
nitroarenes by Ru(dppe)(CO)3, where dppe
=
1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane, are described. The
products of the reaction included 1 equiv of carbon
dioxide
and an η2-nitrosoarene ruthenium complex
(Ru(dppe)(CO)2[ON(Ar)] for Ar =
4-chloro-2-trifluoromethylphenyl),
which was isolated and fully characterized by solution spectroscopic
methods and by single crystal X-ray diffraction
[monoclinic crystal system, space group
P21/c (#14), a = 14.556
(8) Å, b = 12.903 (6) Å, c = 20.10 (1) Å,
β =
105.60 (6)°, V = 3636 (8) Å3, Z
= 4]. The deoxygenation reaction was determined to be
first-order with respect to
both Ru(dppe)(CO)3 and nitroarene. Electron
withdrawing substituents on the nitroarene and polar solvents
accelerated
the rate, and a substituent study provided a ρ of +3.45 indicating
negative charge buildup on the nitroarene in the
rate determining step of the reaction. Activation enthalpies for
2-CF3, 4-Cl, 4-H, and 4-CH3 substituted
nitroarenes
were 9.3, 9.9, 10.5, and 10.7 kcal mol-1, and
the entropies of activation were −35, −33, −36, and −37 eu,
respectively.
Correlation between the reduction potentials of the nitroarenes
(E°ArNO2) and log k
2
was also observed for substituted
nitroarenes yielding a slope of 10 V-1.
Monosubstituted nitroarenes bearing a single methyl, phenyl, or
chloro
group in the ortho position and disubstituted 2,6-dimethyl- and
2,3-dichloronitrobenzene showed no attenuation in
the rate, from what would be expected based on the
E°ArNO2 − log k
2
correlation. Large rate attenuation was observed
for nitroarenes bearing both ortho and meta groups. Analysis of
the kinetic and thermodynamic data using Marcus
theory indicated that the rates were too high for an outer-sphere
electron-transfer mechanism. The data were
interpreted
in terms of an inner-sphere electron-transfer mechanism where the
unfavorable energetics are mitigated by bonding
interactions between the donor and acceptor.