Abstract
Four coordinated rhodium(Ⅰ) complexes, Rh($ClO_4$)(CO)$(PPh_3)_2$ and [$Rh(CO)(PPh_3)_3$]$ClO_4$(2) catalyze the iosmerization of allylic alcohols to the corresponding carbonyl compounds at room temperature under nitrogen. The isomerization is faster with 2 than with 1, which is understood in terms of relative ease of the last step of the catalytic cycle, the reductive elimination of enol. Relative rates of the isomerization with 1 and 2 for different allylic alcohols are also explained by the relative ease of the enol elimination step in part. The first step of the catalytic cycle, the complex formation of the allylic alcohol through the ${\pi}-system$ of the olefinic group of the allylic alcohol and the following step, formation of hydridoallyl complex also seem to affect the overall rate of the isomerization.