ALKYL EXCHANGE REACTIONS INVOLVING ORGANOMETALLIC DERIVATIVES OF GROUPS-2 AND GROUPS-3

Kinetic and activation energy studies were made on the methyl group exchange reactions between di-methylcadmium and trimethylgallium, trimethylindium, and dimethylzinc. The results indicate that all reactions are bimolecular in nature with the relative rates of reaction toward dimethylcadmium being Ga(CH3)3 > In(CH3)3 » Zn(CH3)2. The activation energies for these systems are 7.8 ± 0.8, 8.4 ± 0.2, and 17.0 ± 1.0 kcal/mole, respectively. All kinetic parameters have been obtained by complete line-shape analysis of the nmr spectra by use of modifications of the McConnell equations to simulate theoretical spectra. An attempt is made to correlate the rates of exchange to the Lewis acidity of the organometallic species. © 1969, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.