ηI-O-coordinated CO2 is thought to characterize the intermediate in Ni0-catalyzed coupling of CO2 with unsaturated compounds such as ethylene. This is the conclusion derived from a sophisticated ab initio calculation on [Ni(NH3)2(CO2)], on the basis of which the η1-O structure A is only 1.3 kcal mol−1 higher in energy than the ground state structure B despite considerable diradical character.
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Dedieu et al. (1989) studied this question.