Figure 3. Relative Gibbs free energy profiles (kcal/mol) to produce 1-octene from metallacyclononane without hydrogen.
Similar analysis was conducted on metallacyclononane and presented in Figure 3 and Figure 4. The production of 1-octene through one-step agostic interaction via N-TS0-1 requires an energy barrier of 15.8 kcal/mol. The two-step β -H transfer occur via N-TS0-2 and N-TS-2-3, with energy barriers of 13.9 kcal/mol and 17.5 kcal/mol respectively. Further ring expansion leads to the formation of byproducts and is neglected in this calculation,