Kinetic Isotope Effects in the Study of Organometallic Reaction Mechanisms

Deuterium labeling and isotope effects have been demonstrated to be, by far, the most valuable in the study of reaction mechanisms mediated by transition metals. C kinetic isotope effect (KIEs) have proved to be essential in disentangling the mechanistic insights of some of the most relevant metal-mediated transformations known, the C-H activation processes and the C-C (C-heteroatom) coupling reactions. The in depth knowledge of these mechanisms has allowed the synthetic chemists to afford many new types of transformations that are currently being used in industry and academy. The in depth knowledge of these mechanisms has allowed the synthetic chemists to afford many new types of transformations that are currently being used in industry and academy. H/D KIEs are simple to interpret, do not require complex experimental support, and also is the perfect bench test for the computational data. Their values can be predicted with a minimal computational cost, and the comparison of the theoretical/experimental data is a strong support for/against a calculated pathway.