The electrochemical reduction of
[Mo2Cp2(CO)4{μ-η2:η3-HC⋮C−C(R1)(R2)}]+
complexes has
been investigated by cyclic voltammetry, controlled-potential
electrolysis, and coulometry.
On the cyclic voltammetry time scale, the complexes with R1 = H,
R2 = H (1
+
), Me
(2
+
), Et
(3
+
) undergo an irreversible or a
quasi-reversible one-electron reduction whereas the
analogues with R1 = H, R2 = Fc
(4
+
) and R1 = Me, R2 = Me
(5
+
) and Ph
(6
+
) reduce in a
single-step, reversible or quasi-reversible, two-electron process.
Two different chemical
reactions are involved in the overall reduction mechanism. The
first chemical step is assigned
as a structural rearrangement, responsible for slowing down the
heterogeneous electron
transfer. Extended Hückel MO calculations indicate that in
the case of the complexes with
R1 = H, R2 = Fc and R1 = Me, R2 = Me or Ph, a small increase in
the distance between one
metal center and the carbon of the C(R1)(R2) group could trigger
the two-electron transfer
process. The second chemical reaction leading to the final
product(s) of the reduction involves
radical species, even when a two-electron transfer is observed by
cyclic voltammetry. The
final products formed in these processes have been identified either by
1H NMR spectroscopy
of the compounds extracted from the catholyte after
controlled-potential electrolyses or from
a comparison of their characteristic redox potentials with those of
authentic samples. The
nature of the final product(s), either a dimer or μ-alkyne and
μ-enyne complexes, is also
dependent on the nature of R1 and R2.