The Very Low Barrier of CO Site Exchange in Tricarbonyl(η4-1,5-cyclooctadiene)iron: Picosecond Kinetics in Solution Investigated by Line Shape Simulation of the ν(CO) IR Bands and Complementary Evidence from the Course of 13CO Incorporation in a Low-Temperature Matrix

Photochemical experiments with Fe(CO) 3 (η 4 -1,5-cyclooctadiene) ( 1 ) in a 13 CO matrix at 10 K, monitored by means of IR spectroscopy, indicate the generation of stereoselectively labeled Fe(CO) 2 ( 13 CO)(η 4 -1,5-cyclooctadiene) ( 1 - 1a ), with 13 CO in the apical position of the square-pyramidal coordination geometry. The spectral changes occurring upon annealing the matrix to 28 K reveal the thermally activated conversion into a mixture of the two possible stereoisotopomers, the species with 13 CO in a basal position ( 1- 1b ) becoming predominant. These findings characterize the carbonyl ligand site exchange in complex 1 as a chemical reaction involving a very small barrier. The variable-temperature IR spectra of 1 in hydrocarbon solution exhibit broadening and coalescence of bands in the ν(CO) region, which is interpreted in terms of a CO site exchange occurring in the picosecond time domain. The theoretical approach to the simulation of these spectral changes involves a transfer of transition dipole moment between the ν(CO) modes. On the basis of this approach, the rates of CO site exchange at the various temperatures could be evaluated by line shape simulation. They were found to range from 0.15 × 10 12 s - 1 at 133 K to 1.54 × 10 12 s - 1 at 293 K, yielding Δ H ⧧ = 0.7 kcal·mol - 1 (Eyring plot) and E a = 1.1 kcal·mol - 1 (Arrhenius plot) for the activation barrier of the underlying process.