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Dear Colleagues,
I hope all is well. My students have prepared trans-Rh(PPh3)2Cl(CO) in the lab and I have found an overall reaction for this experiment. I am thinking about the actual mechanism for this neat reaction. The first step you add hydrated rhodium(III) chloride to DMF and heat it until it changes into a yellow color. At this point, [Rh(CO)2Cl2]- is being generated in solution? I know the CO is coming from DMF.
SNC
I'll bet you a nickel it's C-H oxidative addition of the formyl-H bond, followed by either direct 1,3 H+ migration to the nitrogen or a proton shuttle to the nitrogen, followed by extrusion of dimethylamine.
You only bet her a nickel? I figured you'd at least bet her a palladium. sheesh.
Or a gold, which is even more valuable than platinum these days. I bet Scott's right.
Check out this paper on DMF doing fun stuff like that:
"N,N-Dimethylformamide: much more than a solvent"
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040402009009685
Tetrahedron 65 (2009) 40, 8313-8323;
DMF is special.
I will check this out. Is DMF as "special" as THF?
Sibrina