C−H Activation and Olefin Insertion in d8 and d0 Complexes: Same Elementary Steps,Different Electronics

Metallocene alkyl complexes with d⁰ electron configuration and d⁸-configured square planar α-diimine late transition metal alkyl complexes show activity in both C−H activation through σ-bond metathesis and olefin insertion. Herein, we show by analysis of their M−CH₃ ¹³C chemical shift tensors that these reactions involve a π(M−C) interaction in the horizontal plane of the complex for both d⁰ and d⁸ systems. While in the case of d⁰ systems the interaction of an empty metal d-orbital and a filled carbon p-orbital causes partial alkylidene character of the M−C bond, the corresponding metal d-orbital is filled in d⁸ systems, thus generating a filled π*(M−C) orbital that increases the anionic character of the methyl group. This entails fundamentally different reaction mechanisms for d⁰ and d⁸ systems, which are reflected in the structures of the transition states: While d⁰ olefin insertion can be viewed as a 2+2] cycloaddition reaction, d⁸ olefin insertion rather resembles methyl group migration onto a positively polarized olefin, thus explaining the observed differences in regioselectivity. These findings are translated to σ-bond metathesis, a reaction which is isolobal to olefin insertion for both early and late transition metals.