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Photodissociation of fluorine-substituted benzenes, including 1,3-difluorobenzene, 1,2,4-trifluorobenzene, 1,2,4,5-tetrafluorobenzene, and pentafluorobenzene, at 193 nm under collision-free conditions has been studied in separate experiments using multimass ion imaging techniques. HF elimination was found to be the major dissociation channel for all of these molecules. Small amounts of photofragments of C6H3F2 and C6H2F3 from 1,3-difluorobenzene and 1,2,4-trifluorobenzene, respectively, were also observed. They correspond to the minor dissociation channel of hydrogen elimination. Dissociation rates and fragment translational energy distributions obtained from experimental measurements suggest that HF and hydrogen elimination reactions occur in the ground electronic state. The potential energy surface obtained from ab initio calculations indicates that the four-center reaction in the ground electronic state is the major dissociation mechanism for the HF eliminations. A comparison with the RRKM calculation has been made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Instead of reductive elimination of aldehyde, or decarbonylation to give a trifluoroalkyl hydride, heating Cp*(PMe3)Ir(H)[C(O)CF3] (1) leads to the quantitative formation of Cp*(PMe3)Ir(CO) (2) and CF3H. Kinetic experiments, isotope labeling studies, solvent effect studies, and solvent-inclusive DFT calculations support a mechanism that involves initial dissociation of trifluoromethyl anion to give the transient ion-pair intermediate [Cp*(PMe3)Ir(H)(CO)]+[CF3]-. Further evidence for the ability of CF-3 to act as a leaving group came from the investigation of the analogous methyl and chloride derivatives Cp*(PMe3)Ir(Me)[C(O)CF3] and Cp*(PMe3)Ir(Cl)[C(O)CF3]. Both of these compounds undergo a similar loss of trifluoromethyl anion, generating an iridium carbonyl cation and CF3D in CD3OD. Three additional acyl hydrides, Cp*(PMe3)Ir(H)[C(O)RF] (where RF = CF2CF3, CF2CF2CF3, or CF2(CF2)6CF3) undergo RF--H elimination to give 2 at a faster rate than CF3H elimination from 1. Stereochemical studies using a chiral acyl hydride with a stereocenter at the β-position reveal that ionization of the carbanion occurs to form a tight ion-pair with high retention of configuration and enantiomeric purity upon proton transfer from iridium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]