A theoretical study on CO₂ insertion into an M(bond)H bond (M = Rh and Cu)

Insertion of CO₂ into the transition metal-hydride bond of [Rh^IIIH₂(PH₃)₃]⁺, Cu^IH(PH₃)₂, and Rh^IH(PH₃)₃ was theoretically investigated with ab initio MO/MP4, SD-CI, and CCD methods. The geometries of reactants, transition states (TS), and products were optimized at the Hartree-Fock level, and then MP4, SD-CI, and CCD calculations were performed on those optimized structures. The TS of the CO₂ insertion into the Cu^I(bond)H bond is the most reactantlike, while the TS of the CO₂ insertion into the Rh^III(bond)H bond is the most productlike. The activation energy (E_a) and the reaction energy (ΔE) were calculated to be 6.5 and −33.5 kcal/mol for the CO₂ insertion into the Cu¹(bond)H bond, 21.2 and −7.0 kcal/mol for the CO₂ insertion into the Rh¹(bond)H bond, and 51.3 and −1.1 kcal/mol for the Rh¹¹¹(bond)H bond at the SD-CI level, where negative ΔE represents exothermicity. These results are discussed in terms of the M(bond)H bond energy and the trans-influence of the hydride ligand. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.