Many Mg-Mg bonds form the core of the Mg₁₆Cp*8Br₄K cluster anion: the key to a reassessment of the Grignard reagent (GR) formation process?

ABSTRACT: It caused a sensation eight years ago, when the first room temperature stable molecular compound with a Mg-Mg bond (LMgMgL, L = chelating ligand) containing magnesium in the oxidation state +1 was prepared. Here, we report the preparation of a [Mg₁₆Cp*8Br₄K]^- cluster anion (Cp* = pentamethylcyclopentadiene) with 27 Mg-Mg bonds. It has been obtained through the reaction of KCp* with a metastable solution of MgBr in toluene. A highly-resolved Fourier transform mass spectrum (FT-MS) of this cluster anion, brought into vacuum by electrospraying its solution in THF, provides the title cluster's stoichiometry. This Mg₁₆ cluster together with experiments on the metastable solution of MgBr show that: during the formation process of GRs (Grignard reagents

SUBMITTER: Kruczynski T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5530812 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature