Excited-state properties of
fac-[Re(dmb)(CO)
3(CH
3CN)]PF
6, [Re(dmb)(CO)
3]
2 (where dmb = 4,4'-dimethyl-2,2'-bipyridine), and other tricarbonyl rhenium(I) complexes were investigated by transient FTIRand UV-vis spectroscopy in CH
3CN or THF. The one-electron reduced monomer, Re(dmb)(CO)
3S (S =CH
3CN or THF), can be prepared either by reductive quenching of the excited states of
fac-[Re(dmb)(CO)
3(CH
3CN)]PF
6 or by homolysis of [Re(dmb)(CO)
3]
2. In the reduced monomer's ground state, the oddelectron resides on the dmb ligand rather than on the metal center. Re(dmb)(CO)
3S dimerizes slowly inTHF,
kd = 40 ± 5 M
-1 s
-1. This rate constant is much smaller than those of other organometallic radicalswhich are typically 10
9 M
-1 s
-1. The slower rate suggests that the equilibrium between the ligand-centeredand metal-centered radicals is very unfavorable (
K ![](/images/entities/ap.gif)
10
-4). The reaction of Re(dmb)(CO)
3S with CO
2 isslow and competes with the dimerization. Photolysis of [Re(dmb)(CO)
3]
2 in the presence of CO
2 producesCO with a 25-50% yield based on [Re]. A CO
2 bridged dimer, (CO)
3(dmb)Re-CO(O)-Re(dmb)(CO)
3 isidentified as an intermediate. Both [Re(dmb)(CO)
3]
2(OCO
2) and Re(dmb)(CO)
3(OC(O)OH) are detectedas oxidation products; however, the previously reported formato-rhenium species is not detected.