Reactivity of silica-supported zirconium neopentyl fragments with trimethylphosphine and acetone: Formation of unexpected reaction products

The reactivity of trimethylphosphine with (triple bond; length of mdashSiO)xZrNp4−x species (x = 1–3) synthesized on silica dehydroxylated at various temperatures has been studied. Only the bi-grafted (triple bond; length of mdashSiO)2ZrNp2 complex reacts, leading to the formation of a surface alkylidene and evolution of neopentane. In presence of acetone the three neopentyl zirconium species react by the same way with evolution of neopentane and formation of enolate (triple bond; length of mdashSiO)xZr[OC(CH3)(triple bond; length of mdashCH2)]4−x species.