Insertion, coupling and elimination processes in the reactions of the unsaturated alkyl-bridged complexes [Mo2(η5-C5H5)2(μ-CH2R)(μ-PCy2)(CO)2] (R = H, Ph) with isocyanides and secondary phosphines

Abstract

The methyl-bridged complex [Mo2Cp2(μ-Me)(μ-PCy2)(CO)2] (Cp = η(5)-C5H5) reacted with stoichiometric amounts of CN(t)Bu at 243 K to give the C,O:C,O-bridged acyl complex [Mo2Cp2{μ-C,O:C,O-C(O)Me}(μ-PCy2)(CN(t)Bu)(CO)], which at room temperature slowly rearranges into its iminoacyl-bridged isomer [Mo2Cp2(μ-C,N:C,N-MeCN(t)Bu)(μ-PCy2)(CO)2]. In contrast, the C:O-bridged acyl complex [Mo2Cp2{μ-C:O-C(O)Me}(μ-PCy2)(CN(t)Bu)(CO)] was the major product obtained when the above reaction was carried out at room temperature. Density Functional Theory (DFT) was used to find the most likely structures of all these isomers, of which the iminoacyl complex was the absolute minimum. In contrast to the above reactions, up to three molecules of the ligand added rapidly to the methyl complex when using the aryl isocyanides CNR (R = o-C6H4Me, p-C6H4OMe), triggering the coupling between the methyl ligand and one of the cyclopentadienyl groups to give the corresponding methylcyclopentadiene derivatives [Mo2Cp(η(4)-C5H5Me)(μ-PCy2)(CNR)3(CO)]. Carbonylation of the latter complex (R = o-C6H4Me) induced the displacement of the η(4)-bound ligand, but also gave small yields of the hydride derivative [Mo2Cp(η(5)-C5H4Me)(μ-H)(μ-PCy2){CN(o-C6H4Me)}(CO)3] (Mo-Mo = 3.2467(5) Å), the latter resulting from a C-H cleavage in the methylcyclopentadiene ligand. The reaction of the title complexes with phosphines HPR (R' = Et, Ph) gave two major products: the corresponding aldehyde complexes [Mo2Cp2(μ-PCy2)(μ-PR){η(2)-C(O)HR}(CO)] (Mo-Mo = 2.8288(5) Å when R = CH2Ph and R' = Et) and the dicarbonyl complexes [Mo2Cp2(μ-PCy2)(μ-PR)(CO)2], these following from alternative reductive elimination processes, from hydrogen and either acyl or alkyl ligands, respectively.