In Search of Metal-Metal Metathesis in the Chemistry of Compounds Containing Metal-to-Metal Triple Bonds between Molybdenum.

The occurrence of transition metal complexes containing metal-to-metal multiple bonds is now well documented. Scores of such compounds have been structurally characterized and several have been subjected to detailed spectroscopic examination. Recently X sub X-SW calculations have been carried out on compounds containing M-M bounds and the results have been correlated with the observed spectroscopic data. Despite the emergence of a basic understanding of the electronic structure of these compounds little is known about (i) the mechanisms of their formation and (ii) the relationships that exist between the formation/existence of dinuclear compounds with M-M multiple bonds and cluster or polynuclear compounds of the same empirical formula. We have sought to gain insight into some of these mystiques by looking for the formation of heterodinuclear compounds containing M-M multiple bonds. We report here some findings relating to compounds containing triple bonds between molybdenum and tungsten atoms. (Author)