REACTIVE PI-COMPLEXES OF ELECTRON-RICH TRANSITION-METALS .10. HIGHLY REACTIVE INTERMEDIATES FROM THE COCONDENSATION REACTIONS OF IRON, COBALT AND NICKEL VAPOR WITH ARENES

In 1969, P. L. Timms reported the first preparative cocondensation reactions of metal vapors with organic and inorganic substrates. The use of this technique in preparative chemistry soon spread rapidly, but in recent years there has been less activity in this sector. If metal atom reactions are not utilized primarily for the formation of new products, but for the synthesis of highly reactive intermediates, a new synthetic strategy may be developed. Our aims are reaction sequences which, based on an effective cocondensation reaction, lead gradually and selectively to new substance classes. This principle can be illustrated by the example of the cocondensation products of arenes and iron, cobalt, or nickel vapor, which decompose between −70 and −50°C. The classes of products accessible by this method extend from clusters, through π‐complexes, organophosphorus and organoboron cage compounds to pure organic cycloaddition products. Copyright © 1990 by VCH Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Germany