Metal acetylene complexes
In organometallic chemistry, a transition
metal alkyne complex is a coordination compound containing one or more alkyne ligands. Such compounds are intermediates in many catalytic
reactions that convert alkynes to other organic products, e.g. hydrogenation and trimerization
Transition metal alkyne complexes are often formed by the
displacement of labile ligands by the alkyne. For example, a variety of
cobalt-alkyne complexes may be formed by reaction of the alkyne with dicobalt
octacarbonyl.
Co2(CO)8 + R2C2 →
Co2(C2R2)(CO)6 + 2 CO
Many alkyne complexes are produced by reduction of metal
halides, e.g. titanocene dichloride and bis(triphenylphosphine)platinum
dichloride in the presence of the alkyne:
Cp2TiCl2 + C2R2 +
Mg → Cp2Ti(C2R2) + MgCl2
The coordination of alkynes to transition metals is similar
to that of alkenes. The bonding is described by the Dewar-Chatt-Duncanson model. Upon
complexation the C-C bond elogates and the alkynyl carbon bends away from 180º.
For example, in the phenylpropyne complex Pt(PPh3)2(C2)Ph(Me), the C-C distance
is 1.277(25) vs 1.20 Å for a typical alkyne. The C-C-C angle distorts 40° from
linearity. Because the bending induced by complexation, strained
alkynes such as cycloheptyne and cyclooctyne are stabilized by complexation
In the IR spectra, the C-C vibration of alkynes, which
occurs near 2300 cm−1, shifts upon complexation to around 1800 cm−1,
indicating a weakening of the C-C bond.
η2-coordination to a single metal center
When bonded side-on to a single metal atom, an alkyne serves
as a dihapto usually two-electron donor. For early metal complexes, e.g., Cp2Ti(C2R2),
strong π-backbonding into one of the π* antibonding orbitals of the alkyne is
indicated. This complex is described as a metallacyclopropene derivative of
Ti(IV). For late transition metal complexes, e.g., Pt(PPh3)2(MeC2Ph),
the π-backbonding is less prominent, and the complex is assigned oxidation
state (0).
In some complexes, the alkyne is classified as a
four-electron donor. In these cases, both pairs of pi-electrons donate to the
metal. This kind of bonding was first implicated in complexes of the type
W(CO)(R2C2)3.
η2, η2-coordination bridging two metal centers
Because alkynes have two π bonds, alkynes can form stable
complexes in which they bridge two metal centers. The alkyne donates a total of
four electrons, with two electrons donated to each of the metals. And example
of a complex with this bonding scheme is η2-diphenylacetylene-(hexacarbonyl)dicobalt(0).
Benzyne complexes
Transition metal benzyne complexes represent
a special case of alkyne complexes since the free benzynes are not stable in
the absence of the metal.
Applications
Metal alkyne complexes are intermediates in the semihydrogenation of
alkynes to alkenes:
C2R2 + H2 → cis-C2R2H2
This transformation is conducted on a large scale in
refineries, which unintentionally produce acetylene during the production of
ethylene. It is also useful in the preparation of fine chemicals.
Semihydrogenation affords cis alkenes.
Metal-alkyne complexes are also intermediates in the
metal-catalyzed trimerization and
tetramerizations. Cyclooctatetraene is produced from
acetylene via the intermediacy of metal alkyne complexes. Variant of this
reaction are exploited for the synthesis of substituted pyridines.
The Pauson-Khand reaction provides a
route to cyclopentenones via the intermediacy of cobalt-alkyne complexes.
With the shift away from coal-based (acetylene) to
petroleum-based feedstocks (olefins), catalytic reactions with alkynes are not
widely practiced industrially. Acrylic acid was
once prepared by the hydrocarboxylation of acetylene:
C2H2 + H2O + CO → H2C=CHCO2H