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Lewis Acid‐Mediated One‐Electron Reduction of Nitrous Oxide
Author(s) -
Liu Yizhu,
Solari Euro,
Scopelliti Rosario,
Fadaei Tirani Farzaneh,
Severin Kay
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.201804709
Subject(s) - chemistry , lewis acids and bases , electron transfer , medicinal chemistry , dimer , metallocene , reducing agent , nitrous oxide , nitrous acid , cyclopentadienyl complex , cleavage (geology) , bond cleavage , photochemistry , stereochemistry , catalysis , inorganic chemistry , organic chemistry , polymerization , materials science , polymer , fracture (geology) , composite material
The one‐electron reduction of nitrous oxide (N 2 O) was achieved using strong Lewis acids E(C 6 F 5 ) 3 (E=B or Al) in combination with metallocenes. In the case of B(C 6 F 5 ) 3 , electron transfer to N 2 O required a powerful reducing agent such as Cp* 2 Co (Cp*=pentamethylcyclopentadienyl). In the presence of Al(C 6 F 5 ) 3 , on the other hand, the reactions could be performed with weaker reducing agents such as Cp* 2 Fe or Cp 2 Fe (Cp=cyclopentadienyl). The Lewis acid‐mediated electron transfer from the metallocene to N 2 O resulted in cleavage of the N−O bond, generating N 2 and the oxyl radical anion [OE(C 6 F 5 ) 3 ] ⋅− . The latter is highly reactive and engages in C−H activation reactions. It was possible to trap the radical by addition of the Gomberg dimer, which acts as a source of the trityl radical.