Substituent Effects on Reactions of [RhCl(COD)]2 with Diazoalkanes

The reactions of [RhCl­(COD)]2 with a series of diazoalkanes with different substitutents were investigated. The outcomes of the reactions were found to be substituent-dependent via four different pathways. (1) The reactions with diazoindenes produced η5-cyclopentadienyl complexes. (2) The reaction with diazofluorene produced a mixture of olefin and azine compounds. (3) The reactions with monosubstituted diazoalkanes RCHN2 (R = Ph, MeO2C) produced olefins RCHCHR. (4) The reaction with the disubstituted diazoalkane Ph2CN2 produced the azine Ph2CN–NCPh2 only. Computational studies have been carried out to understand the interesting substituent effect by comparing the kinetics and thermodynamics of the reaction pathways. It was found that the reactions with diazocyclopentadiene, diazoindene, and Ph2CN2 are kinetically controlled, while the reactions with RCHN2 and diazofluorene are both thermodynamically and kinetically controlled.