Coordination chemistry of stable radicals: homolysis of a titanium-oxygen bond.

Thermolysis of Cp2TiCl(TEMPO) (TEMPO = 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl) at 60 degrees C in a benzene/CCl4 mixture generates Cp2TiCl2. Kinetic studies implicate a mechanism involving the reversible cleavage of a Ti-O bond to generate the TEMPO radical and Cp2TiCl, which is trapped by CCl4 to give Cp2TiCl2. The rate of this reaction is strongly inhibited by added TEMPO and increases with increasing CCl4 concentration, indicating that the coupling of TEMPO to Cp2TiCl is faster than chloride atom abstraction from CCl4.