Catalytic Hydration of Alkenes and Alkynes

The fifteen years of DOE support have encompassed two different projects, electron-transfer reactions of metal carbonyl anions and water-soluble organometallic complexes. Each of these is related to homogeneous catalysis and will be described in separate sections. Electron Transfer--Twenty-one manuscripts resulted from our studies of electron-transfer reactions of metal carbonyl anions and acknowledge DOE support. Construction of an infrared stopped-flow system allowed us to measure rates of reactions for the extremely air-sensitive metal carbonyl anions. As for carbanions, both one-electron and two-electron processes occur for metal carbonyl anions. The most unexpected feature was examples of a very rapid two-electron process, followed by a much slower one-electron back transfer. The two-electron processes were accompanied by transfer of a ligand between two metals, M-X + M{prime}{sup -} {yields} M{sup -} + M{prime}-X with X groups of CO{sup 2}, H{sup +}, CH{sub 3}{sup +} and Br{sup +}. These transfers, which can be considered nucleophilic displacements, occurred when M{prime}{sup -} was more nucleophilic than M{sup -}. The 21 published manuscripts explore one- and two-electron processes for many such organometallic complexes. Water-Soluble Organometallic Complexes--The potential of water-soluble organometallic complexes in ''green chemistry'' intrigued us. Sixteen manuscripts acknowledging DOE support have appeared thus far in this field. Our research centered on sulfonated phosphine ligands, PPh{sub 2}(m-C{sub 6}H{sub 4}SO{sub 3}Na) and P(m-C{sub 6}H{sub 4}SO{sub 3}Na){sub 3}, to solubilize organometallic complexes in water. These analogues of PPH{sub 3} allowed us to synthesize complexes of Ir, Rh, Ru, Ni, Pd, Pt and Ag that are water-soluble and contain such common organometallic ligands as CO, H and CH{sub 3} in addition to halides and the phosphine ligands. These metal complexes show the ability to activate H{sub 2}, CO, C{sub 2}H{sub 4}, H{sub 2}O, SO{sub 2} etc. in aqueous solution. The primary conclusion is that water-soluble organometallic complexes can be prepared and show very similar reactivity in water to analogous compounds in organic solvents. Thus, organometallic complexes in aqueous solution do provide a ''green'' route to products currently prepared in organic solvents