Abstract
The stoichiometric reaction between propane and (≡ SiO)
3ZrH leads to the formation of a mixture of (≡ SiO)
3ZrCH(CH
3)
2 and (≡ SiO)
3ZrCH
2CH
2CH
3. The relative amounts of each complex resultant from the reaction was determined by (a) reaction of (≡ SiO)
3ZrC
3H
7 with D
2O to produce quantitatively a mixture of CH
3CH
3CH
2D and CH
3CHDCH
3 which in turn were discriminated by mass spectroscopy, and (b) reaction of (≡ SiO)
3ZrC
3H
7 with O
2 followed by HCl yielding 1-propanol and 2-propanol in low yield. Each of these methods indicated that (≡ SiO)
3ZrCH
2CH
2CH
3 was the major product of propane activation. The catalytic deuteration of propane by deuterium at room temperature catalysed by (≡ SiO)
3ZrH showed that the primary C
H bonds of propane reacted seven times faster than the secondary C
H bonds. A mechanism of degenerate carbon-hydrogen bond activation is invoked for the latter reaction.