The kinetics of the reactions of dicobalt-coordinatedpropargyl cations with
-nucleophiles (e.g.,allylsilanes) and hydride donors (e.g., trialkylsilanes) have beenstudied conductometrically and/or photometrically. The reactions follow second-order kinetics withrate-determining CC-bond formation or hydridetransfer. It is found that phenyl and trimethylsilyl substituentsin the propargyl cation moiety reduce theelectrophilic reactivities of these cations by less than a factor of10. The electrophilicity is reduced by afactor of more than 10
5, however, when one CO ligand isreplaced by PPh
3 (
3a 3e).The reactions of thedicobalt-coordinated propargyl cations with allylsilanes and-stannanes, silylated enol ethers and ketene actetals,and hydride donors (R
3SiH, R
3SnH)follow the linear free enthalpy relationship log
k =
s(
E +
N), whichallows one to calculate electrophilicity parameters
E forthese carbocations and to rationalize their syntheticpotential.