An unusual alkylidyne homologation†
Abstract
The reaction of [W(CH)Br(CO)2(dcpe)] (dcpe = 1,2-bis(dicyclohexylphosphino)ethane) with tBuLi and SiCl4 affords the trichlorosilyl ligated neopentylidyne complex [W(CtBu)(SiCl3)(CO)2(dcpe)]. This slowly reacts with H2O to afford [W(CCH2tBu)Cl3(dcpe)] and ultimately H2CCHtBu via an unprecedented alkylidyne homologation in which coordinated CO is the source of the additional carbon atom with potential relevance to the Fischer–Tropsch process.