Kinetics of hydrogen atom transfer from (eta(5)-C(5)H(5))Cr(CO)(3)H to various olefins: influence of olefin structure.

Treating (etha(5)-C(5)H(5))Cr(CO)3H (1) or (etha(5)-C(5)H(5))Cr(CO)3D (1-d(1)) with an excess of olefin containing the opposite isotope generally leads to H/D exchange, although hydrogenation is also observed in some cases. Application of an appropriate statistical correction to the observed exchange rate gives kH and kD, the rate constants for H* (D*) transfer from (etha(5)-C(5)H(5))Cr(CO)(3)H (D) to various olefins. The values of kH and kD vary appreciably with the substituents on the double bond. Phenyl-substituted olefins accept H* more readily than do carbomethoxy-substituted olefins, although the latter accept H* more readily than do alkyl-substituted olefins. A methyl substituent on the incipient radical site increases k(H) at 323 K by a factor between 5 and 50. A methyl substituent on the carbon to which the H* is being transferred decreases kH substantially. On the whole, the rate constants for H* transfer reflect steric effects as well as the stability of the resulting carbon-centered radicals.

Kinetics and thermodynamics of H. transfer from (eta5-C5R5)Cr(CO)3H (R = Ph, Me, H) to methyl methacrylate and styrene.

The rates of H/D exchange have been measured between (a) the activated olefins methyl methacrylate-d(5) and styrene-d(8), and (b) the Cr hydrides (eta(5)-C(5)Ph(5))Cr(CO)(3)H (2a), (eta(5)-C(5)Me(5))Cr(CO)(3)H (2b), and (eta(5)-C(5)H(5))Cr(CO)(3)H (2c). With a large excess of the deuterated olefin the first exchange goes to completion before subsequent exchanges begin, at a rate first order in olefin and in hydride. (Hydrogenation is insignificant except with styrene and CpCr(CO)(3)H; in most cases, the radicals arising from the first H. transfer are too hindered to abstract another H. .) Statistical corrections give the rate constants k(reinit) for H. transfer to the olefin from the hydride. With MMA, k(reinit) decreases substantially as the steric bulk of the hydride increases; with styrene, the steric bulk of the hydride has little effect. At longer times, the reaction of MMA or styrene with 2a gives the corresponding metalloradical 1a as termination depletes the concentration of the methyl isobutyryl radical 3 or the alpha-methylbenzyl radical 4; computer simulation of [1a] as f(t) gives an estimate of k(tr), the rate constant for H. transfer from 3 or 4 back to Cr. These rate constants imply a DeltaG (50 degrees C) of +11 kcal/mol for H. transfer from 2a to MMA, and a DeltaG (50 degrees C) of +10 kcal/mol for H. transfer from 2a to styrene. The CH(3)CN pK(a) of 2a, 11.7, implies a BDE for its Cr-H bond of 59.6 kcal/mol, and DFT calculations give 58.2 kcal/mol for the Cr-H bond in 2c. In combination the kinetic DeltaG values, the experimental BDE for 2a, and the calculated DeltaS values for H. transfer imply a C-H BDE of 45.6 kcal/mol for the methyl isobutyryl radical 3 (close to the DFT-calculated 49.5 kcal/mol), and a C-H BDE of 47.9 kcal/mol for the alpha-methylbenzyl radical 4 (close to the DFT-calculated 49.9 kcal/mol). A solvent cage model suggests 46.1 kcal/mol as the C-H BDE for the chain-carrying radical in MMA polymerization.