Metathesis of Alkanes: Evidence for Degenerate Metathesis of Ethane over a Silica-Supported Tantalum Hydride Prepared by Surface Organometallic Chemistry

Olivier Maury; Laurent Lefort; Véronique Vidal; Jean Thivolle-Cazat; Jean-Marie Basset

doi:10.1002/(SICI)1521-3773(19990712)38:13/14<1952::AID-ANIE1952>3.0.CO;2-V

Metathesis of Alkanes: Evidence for Degenerate Metathesis of Ethane over a Silica-Supported Tantalum Hydride Prepared by Surface Organometallic Chemistry

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 1999 Jul 12;38(13-14):1952-1955. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1521-3773(19990712)38:13/14<1952::AID-ANIE1952>3.0.CO;2-V.

Authors

Olivier Maury¹, Laurent Lefort¹, Véronique Vidal¹, Jean Thivolle-Cazat¹, Jean-Marie Basset¹

Affiliation

¹ Laboratoire de Chimie OrganoMétallique de Surface, UMR 9986 CNRS-CPE Lyon, 43, boulevard du 11 Novembre 1918, F-69616 Villeurbanne Cedex (France), Fax: (+33) 4724317-93/-95.

Abstract

The mutual exchange of methyl groups of ethane molecules is catalyzed by a silica-supported tantalum hydride surface complex (see the schematic representation of the transition states). This process, which resembles degenerate olefin metathesis, is five times faster than the productive alkane metathesis.

Keywords: Alkanes; C−C activation; Metathesis; Surface chemistry; Tantalum.