Solution photochemistry of (n super 5-C5R5)Rh(CO)2(R=H,Me) complexes: pathways for photosubstitution and C-H/Si-H bond activation reactions

A study was done on the pathways for photosubstitution and C-H/Si-H bond activation reactions in (n super 5-C5R5)Rh(CO)2(R=H,Me) complexes. It was shown that photoreactions involving the solutions involve clean and complete conversion to the corresponding CpRh(CO)PR3 and Cp*Rh(CO)PR3 products. The reactions occur from ligand field excited states and ligand photosubstitution proceed through an associative mechanism.