Dehydration of Alkanones by Bare FeO+ Involves the ω/(ω − 1) Positions: Exclusion of Iron Carbenes as Intermediates. Preliminary Communication

Fourier-transform ion-cyclotron-resonance (FTICR) mass spectrometry has been used to uncover the mechanisms by which FeO⁺ dehydrates heptan-4-one ( 5a ) and nonan-5-one ( 6a ) in the gas phase. The study of isotopomeric ketones provides evidence that H₂O loss is not due to a 1,1-elimination, thus ruling out the intermediacy of high-valent iron-carbene species. Rather, H₂O is generated in a formal 1,2-elimination involving the ω/ω ? 1 positions of the alkyl chain (‘remote C? H bond activation’). In the consecutive alkene/H₂O elimination, the olefins (ethylene from 5a and propene from 6a ) originate from the terminal part of one alkyl chain, and the H-atom is transferred to the FeO⁺ moiety in the course of this process, builds up together with an H-atom from the ω/ω-1 position of the other alkyl chain the H₂O molecule. In either case, the O-atom of H₂O is provided by the FeO⁺ species.