Interaction between cobaltocenium and decamethylcobaltocenium salts and Ph3ELi (E = Si,Ge, Sn)

Reactions of cobaltocenium salts (C₅R₅)₂Co]PF₆ (R = H, Me) with Ph3ELi (E = Si, Ge, Sn) and with Ph₂SbLi mainly follow two pathways (nucleophilic addition and one-electron reduction), yielding cobalt cyclopentadiene-cyclope ntadienyl complexes (⁴-Ph₃EC₅R₅)(⁵-C₅R₅)Co (R = H, E = Si, Ge, Sn; R = Me, E = Si) and cobaltocenes (C₅R₅)₂Co (R = H, Me), respectively. The contribution of nucleophilic addition of Ph₃ELi decreases in the order of elements Si > Ge > Sn and when hydrogen atoms are replaced by methyl groups in the initial cobaltocenium salt. Thermal decomposition of cobalt cyclopentadiene-cyclopentadienyl complexes results in substituted cobaltocenes.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya. No. 10, pp. 2557–2560, October, 1996.