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I've learnt that the Wilkinson's catalyst $[\ce{Rh(PPh3)3}]$ is used for hydrogenation of alkenes into alkanes. But I'm curious to know the mechanism. Could someone help me?

andselisk
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The Jade Reaper
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    https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/99344/rate-of-catalytic-hydrogenation-of-alkenes/99594?r=SearchResults#99594 – Nilay Ghosh Jan 19 '19 at 03:56
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    Have you seen the wiki page? – Nilay Ghosh Jan 19 '19 at 03:58
  • Yes, I tried looking at the wiki page.. but I didn't quite understand it – The Jade Reaper Jan 19 '19 at 04:00
  • Catalytic hydrogenation or any catalytic mechanism of any transition metal is normally not taught in high school as it is a more difficult topic to study. But the fact is that the mechanism remains same. There is no easy way to interpret. What happens is what you have to study. So i would suggest to go through mechanism of basic catalysts and then go through transition metal as catalyst. – Nilay Ghosh Jan 19 '19 at 04:06
  • Roger that! The teacher shrugged me off saying that it is out of the high school scope. But my curious mind wouldn't take that as an answer – The Jade Reaper Jan 19 '19 at 04:15
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    You can't draw arrow pushing mechanisms exactly for some of the steps, but as with any other reaction mechanism, you want to know the basic steps. These are: oxidative addition (specifically, concerted), $\beta$-migratory insertion, and reductive elimination. There's also a regular ligation in the middle, which is just a Lewis acid/Lewis base interaction. – Zhe Jan 19 '19 at 13:08

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