Unimolecular decomposition of triethylborine
Abstract
The gas-phase unimolecular elimination of ethylene from triethylborine has been studied in the temperature range 109–214°C. To minimize the back-reaction an excess of Et2BH scavenger was added. In these conditions the amount of ethylene formed was a good measure of the extent of the reaction : Et3B = C2H4+ Et2BH. For this reaction it was found that E= 33·7 ± 1·2 kcal. mole–1 and A= 4 × 1011 sec.–1. From these data it can be concluded that ethylene elimination from triethylborine is one of the slowest olefin eliminations observed from trialkylboranes.