The synthetic and reaction chemistry of several classes of transition metal halomethyl compounds will be investigated by John L. Hubbard of Utah State University in this project in the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry Program. These compounds are valuable new members of the family of alpha-substituted alkyl derivatives of transition metals which are known to be important intermediates in processes such as carbon monoxide reduction, hydroformylation and other catalytic syntheses. The compounds to be employed in the study include cyclopentadienyl (or pentamethylcyclopentadienyl) nitrosyl metal alpha-haloalkyls of chromium, molybdenum and tungsten as well as cyclopentadienyl nitrosyl haloalkyl metal halides of iron and ruthenium and the di(haloalkyl)derivatives of the latter metals. The compounds have been made readily accessable by recent impvovements in their synthesis via the reaction of diazoalkanes with precursor metal halides. Some reaction types to be studied are photolytic and thermal decompositions or rearrangements and simple air oxidations.
