Überoxidation als Schlüsselschritt im Mechanismus der MoCl5 - vermittelten dehydrierenden Arenkupplung

Over-Oxidation as the Key Step in the Mechanism of the MoCl5-Mediated Dehydrogenative Coupling of Arenes.

Molybdenum pentachloride is an unusually powerful reagent for the dehydrogenative coupling of arenes. Owing to the high reaction rate using MoCl5, several labile moieties are tolerated in this transformation. The mechanistic course of the reaction was controversially discussed although indications for a single electron transfer as the initial step were found recently. Herein, based on a combined study including synthetic investigations, electrochemical measurements, EPR spectroscopy, DFT calculations, and mass spectrometry, we deduct a highly consistent mechanistic scenario: MoCl5 acts as a one-electron oxidant in the absence of TiCl4 and as two-electron oxidant in the presence of TiCl4, bu…