Archive for January 21st, 2024

A mechanistic exploration of the Wilkinson hydrogenation catalyst. Part 1: Model templates

Sunday, January 21st, 2024

Geoffrey Wilkinson first reported his famous work on the hydrogenation catalyst that now bears his name in 1965[cite]10.1039/C19650000131[/cite] and I met him at Imperial College around 1969 and again when I returned there in 1977. He was still working on these catalysts then and I was privileged to collaborate with him on unravelling the NMR spectra of some of these compounds.[cite]10.1039/C39820000482[/cite],[cite]10.1016/S0277-5387(00)86558-4[/cite],[cite]10.1016/0277-5387(82)80008-9[/cite]. During that period, computational modelling of the mechanisms of molecules containing transition elements was still in its infancy and I never extended my collaboration into this area at that time. Now, even if belatedly, I decided to explore this aspect and started to do this about two weeks ago. Here I thought that I would use this opportunity to show how I am going about it.

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