Dimethylcuprate undergoes a dyotropic rearrangement

Comparison of the gas-phase decomposition reactions of [CH₃CuCH₃]⁻ and [CH₃AgCH₃]⁻ reveals that [CH₃CuCH₃]⁻ undergoes a competition between a dyotropic rearrangement and bond homolysis, whilst [CH₃AgCH₃]⁻ only undergoes bond homolysis. Ab initio calculations reveal that the different behavior in [CH₃AgCH₃]⁻ stems from both the lowering of the homolytic bond dissociation energy and an increase in dyotropic rearrangement activation energy