Experiments in thermodynamics and kinetics of phosphine substitution in (p-cymene) RuCl2(PR3)

We have described a series of three experiments that introduce students to the important concepts of bond strength, rate laws, and activation energy. The experiments are straight-forward and can be easily performed in any chemistry department with access to an NMR spectrometer equipped with VT capability. The experiments are designed so that the students get the experience of modern organometallic research. Some of the findings we report here are novel; on the other hand, the experiments are strongly tied to the existing literature data to enable for meaningful comparison of students' own data with the published material. The experiments can be easily modified to introduce novelty each time the course is taught. For instance, changing the phosphine ligand in 2a or exploring the influence of the solvent on the equilibrium constant or the activation barrier may generate a new set of experiments with little preparatory effort by the instructor.

Experiments in thermodynamics and kinetics of phosphine substitution in (p-cymene) RuCl2(PR3) Academic Article