Abstract: | Mechanistic questions regarding the reductive cleavage of sulfonium ions by the NiI form of coenzyme F430 pentamethyl ester (F430M) were addressed in a series of kinetic studies and isotope labeling experiments. In neat DMF, methane formation from dialkyl(methyl)sulfonium ions consistently showed a delay time of ca. 1 h. In the presence of excess propanethiol, no delay was observed and methane formation followed pseudo-first-order kinetics with a logarithmic dependence of the initial rate on the concentration of propanethiol. From the temperature dependence of the reaction rate, an estimate for the activation parameters of ΔH# = 49 kJ mol?1 and (apparent) ΔS# = –114 J K?1 mol?1 was derived. The observation of deuterium incorporation into methane from (CH3)2CHOD, but not from (CH3)2CDOH, indicates that the fourth H-entity is introduced into CH4 as a proton, and that free CH3 radicals are not involved. In contrast to the reaction with the homogeneous one-electron reductant sodium naphthalide, the F430M-catalyzed reduction of mixed dialkyl(methyl)sulfonium ions showed a pronounced selectivity for the cleavage of Me? S over that of alkyl-S (alkyl ≠ Me) bonds. Mechanisms that are consistent with these results, as well as possible explanations for the time delay and the apparent highly negative entropy of activation, are discussed. |