Abstract
For many decades, compounds containing oxygen atoms were excluded from the actinide-catalysis field because of the high oxophilic nature of these complexes. Pursuing the conceptual question about the potential activity of actinide-oxo bonds we were surprised to find that the coupling of aromatic aldehydes catalyzed by Cp*2ThMe2 and Th(NEtMe)4 via thorium-alkoxide intermediates takes place in high yields to produce the corresponding esters. In this paper we present our breakthrough results including comprehensive mechanistic, deuterium labeling, kinetic, and thermodynamic studies. A plausible mechanism is presented taking into account as well the thermochemistry of the process.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 2454-2455 |
Number of pages | 2 |
Journal | Journal of the American Chemical Society |
Volume | 130 |
Issue number | 8 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 27 Feb 2008 |
Externally published | Yes |