Binary Carbon Dioxide Complexes of Nickel in Low Temperature Matrices

Abstract

IT has recently been discovered that carbon dioxide can profoundly alter the catalysed dimerization of butadiene in the presence of zero oxidation state nickel, palladium and platinum complexes¹. In the absence of CO₂ the product is 4-vinyl-cyclohexene whereas in the presence of CO₂ the chief product is trans-1,3,7-octatriene. Attempts to isolate metal-carbon dioxide complexes have, however, proved unsuccessful so far, presumably because they must be rather unstable.