Substitution and Insertion Reactions of Organometallic Compounds

Abstract

A short review of Basolo^(1,2) emphasizes that an associative mechanism for ligand replacement in 18-electron organometallic complexes may be found when the reaction intermediate can avoid a 20-electron configuration by having a ligand present that functions as an electron sink. Most commonly this ligand is π-hydrocarbon (e.g.,η⁶- arene → η⁴ -arene or η^-C₅H₅ η ³ -C₅SH₅) or nitrosyl (linear → bent). A review on transition metal clusters⁽³⁾ contains sections concerning cluster formation, breakdown, and ligand substitution reactions.