Anhydrous Metal Halides, NbBr₅, TaBr₅WCl₆, MoCl₅

The photolysis of bis(acetonitrile)tetrachlorotungsten in acetonitrile

“…The photochemistry of tungsten chlorides and chloro complexes has received very little attention [1]. When irradiated in the gas phase, WCl 6 decomposes to WCl 4 and Cl 2 [2], a reaction that could be reversible, given the ability of Cl 2 to form WCl 6 directly from metallic tungsten [3]. An initial attempt by us to look for a parallel reaction in an acetonitrile solution of tungsten hexachloride was thwarted when the reduction occurred thermally, with coordination of two solvent molecules to form WCl 4 (CH 3 CN) 2 .…”