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Updated: Jun 27, 2026

Preparation of 6-aminocyclohepta-2,4-dien-1-one Derivatives via Tricarbonyl(tropone)iron
Published on: August 12, 2019
By how much is protonated benzene stabilized by coordination of iron tricarbonyl?
Martin Galvin1, J Peter Guthrie, Claire M McDonnell
1School of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
Abstract:
Rate and equilibrium measurements for the hydrolysis of the Fe(CO)3-coordinated cyclohexadienyl cation lead to pKR = 4.7 compared with pKR = -2.1 for the uncoordinated ion. The hydrolysis yields exo-coordinated cyclohexadienol 10(7)-fold more rapidly than its endo-isomer, despite the isomers being of similar stability. DFT calculations of the energy of isodesmic transfer of Fe(CO)3 from cyclohexadiene to benzene lead to an estimate of pKa 8 for loss of a proton from the coordinated cyclohexadienyl cation to form Fe(CO)3-coordinated benzene. This implies that the coordinated cation is 33 log units (46 kcal) less acidic than the uncoordinated ion.
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