Intermediates in organometallic and organic chemistry: Spectroscopy, polymers, hydrogenation and supercritical fluids

IR spectroscopy has transformed the study of mechanistic organometallic chemistry. Reaction intermediates can now be detected and characterized; their kinetics can be measured and their behaviour understood. However, the field is not static. New techniques are still being developed. We focus here on hydrogenation and related reactions describing (i) a miniature low-temperature/high-pressure cell, which allows photochemical reactions to be studied under high pressures of gases, (ii) the use of flow reactors for continuous reactions in supercritical fluids, including hydrogenation of organic compounds, and (iii) the use of supercritical fluid solutions for studying weak metal-ligand interactions by nanosecond time-resolved IR spectroscopy (TRIR) and the application of TRIR to the detection of intermediates in organic reactions.