Kinetic studies on the reactions of some tetrakis(arylisocyanide)cobalt(II) complexes with pyridine in 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol

The interaction of pyridine with four tetrakis(arylisocyanide)cobalt(II) complexes, [Co(CNR)₄(ClO₄)₂] R = 2,6-Me₂C₆H₃ (A), 2,4,6-Me₃C₆H₂ (B), 2,6-Et₂C₆H₃ (C) and 2,6-iPr₂C₆H₃ (D), have been studied in 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol medium. The kinetics of the reactions were investigated over the 293–318 K temperature range. The reaction profile exhibited two distinct processes, proposed to be an initial fast substitution followed by a slow reduction, for each of the reactions. The pseudo first-order rate constants for both processes increased with increasing concentration of pyridine with the reduction processes exhibiting saturation kinetics at high pyridine concentrations. Steric hindrance plays a significant role in the rates of the reactions, as the rates decrease in the order k(A) > k(B) > k(C) > k(D). The activation enthalpies, ΔH^‡, increase from A to D while the activation entropies, ΔS^‡, are relatively similar for the four reactions, indicating similar transition states and hence similar mechanisms. Complex B was first synthesized and characterized in this study.