AN UNUSUAL REDUCTION OF ETHYLENE OCCURRING DURING THE THERMAL-DECOMPOSITION OF ALKALIDES AND ELECTRIDES

Alkalides and electrides thermally decompose by a reductive elimination process leading to the formation of ethylene and a ring opened complexant which has lost an ethylenic unit. Surprisingly, gas phase nmr also shows the formation of ethane and butane. We postulate that these compounds arise from a reduction of the first-formed ethylene by the alkalide or electride.