An unusual alkylidyne homologation

Abstract

The reaction of [W(CH)Br(CO)₂(dcpe)] (dcpe = 1,2-bis(dicyclohexylphosphino)ethane) with ^tBuLi and SiCl₄ affords the trichlorosilyl ligated neopentylidyne complex [W(C^tBu)(SiCl₃)(CO)₂(dcpe)]. This slowly reacts with H₂O to afford [W(CCH₂^tBu)Cl₃(dcpe)] and ultimately H₂CCH^tBu via an unprecedented alkylidyne homologation in which coordinated CO is the source of the additional carbon atom with potential relevance to the Fischer–Tropsch process.