Hexa(''tert''-butoxy)dimolybdenum(III) is a
coordination complex
A coordination complex consists of a central atom or ion, which is usually metallic and is called the ''coordination centre'', and a surrounding array of bound molecules or ions, that are in turn known as ''ligands'' or complexing agents. Many ...
of
molybdenum
Molybdenum is a chemical element with the symbol Mo and atomic number 42 which is located in period 5 and group 6. The name is from Neo-Latin ''molybdaenum'', which is based on Ancient Greek ', meaning lead, since its ores were confused with le ...
(III). It is one of the
homoleptic alkoxides of molybdenum. An orange, air-sensitive solid, the complex has attracted academic attention as the precursor to many
organomolybdenum derivatives. It an example of a charge-neutral complex featuring a molybdenum to molybdenum
triple bond
A triple bond in chemistry is a chemical bond between two atoms involving six bonding electrons instead of the usual two in a covalent single bond. Triple bonds are stronger than the equivalent single bonds or double bonds, with a bond orde ...
(Mo≡Mo), arising from the coupling of a pair of d
3 metal centers. It can be prepared by a
salt metathesis reaction
A salt metathesis reaction, sometimes called a double displacement reaction, is a chemical process involving the exchange of bonds between two reacting chemical species which results in the creation of products with similar or identical bonding a ...
from the
THF complex of
molybdenum trichloride and
lithium tert-butoxide:
:2 MoCl
3(thf)
3 + 6 LiOBu-t → Mo
2(OBu-t)
6 + 6 LiCl + 6 thf
The complex and its
ditungsten (W2) analogue adopt an ethane-like geometry. The metal to metal bond distance is 222
pm in the related complex Mo
2(OCH
2CMe
3)
6.
[{{cite journal , doi=10.1021/ic50173a045, title=The molybdenum-molybdenum triple bond. 2. Hexakis(alkoxy)dimolybdenum compounds: Preparation, properties and structural characterization of hexakis(neopentoxy)dimolybdenum, year=1977, last1=Chisholm, first1=Malcolm H., last2=Cotton, first2=F. Albert., last3=Murillo, first3=Carlos A., last4=Reichert, first4=William W., journal=Inorganic Chemistry, volume=16, issue=7, pages=1801–1808]
See also
*
Hexa(tert-butoxy)ditungsten(III)
References
Alkoxides
Molybdenum(III) compounds