A series of mononuclear thio complexes of
pentamethylcyclopentadienyl−molybdenum(VI) and
−tungsten(VI) have been synthesized via C−S bond-cleaving reactions of
thiolates. Use of Li2S2 for sulfurization
of Cp*MoCl4
resulted in the known dinuclear complex,
anti-Cp*2Mo2(S)2(μ-S)2
(1), while the analogous reaction of
Cp*WCl4
gave rise to
anti-Cp*2W2(S)2(μ-S)2
(2) and (PPh4)[Cp*W(S)3]
(3), the latter of which was isolated after the
subsequent
cation exchange reaction with PPh4Br. In
contrast, the reaction of Cp*WCl4 with
Li2edt (edt = SCH2CH2S)
followed
by treatment with PPh4Br generated 3 as the
sole isolable product in high yield. A similar reaction between
Cp*WCl4
and LiStBu afforded
Cp*W(S)2(StBu) (6),
which turned out to be thermally unstable in solution and gradually
degraded
to 2. In these reactions of Cp*WCl4 with
lithium thiolates, a facile C−S bond cleavage took place and the
tungsten
atom was oxidized from W(V) to W(VI). On the other hand, the
Mo(IV) thiolate complexes,
Cp*Mo(StBu)3 (4)
and
(PPh4)[Cp*Mo(edt)2] (5),
were formed from the Cp*MoCl4/LiStBu and
Cp*MoCl4/Li2edt/PPh4Br
reaction systems.
The complex 4 was readily oxidized by dry
O2 producing Cp*Mo(O)2(StBu)
(7) exclusively, while the reactions of
4 with NH2NMe2 and
NH2NHPh occurred slowly to yield
Cp*Mo(S)2(StBu) (8).
The hydrazines acted as oxidants,
presumably by cleaving the N−N bond, and promoted the C−S bond
rupture of tert-butyl thiolate and concomitant
oxidation of molybdenum from Mo(IV) to Mo(VI). Elemental
sulfur S8 and grey selenium also acted as
oxidants
in the reactions with 4, leading to a complex mixture of
products. From the 4 + S8 reaction, the
complexes 1, 8,
and Cp*Mo(O)(S)(StBu) (9) were produced,
and the 4 + Se reaction lead to 8 and
anti-Cp*2Mo2(E)2(μ-E)2
(10; E
= S, Se). Finally treatment of 8 with
Li2S2 and PPh4Br afforded
(PPh4)[Cp*Mo(S)3] (11).
We found that 11 was
synthesized more easily by a one-pot reaction of 4,
1/4 equiv of S8, and
Li2S2 in THF. The trithio complexes,
3 and
11, reacted very cleanly with PhC⋮CPh generating
(PPh4)[Cp*M(S)(S2C2Ph2)]
(M = W (12), Mo (13)),
respectively.
A kinetic study of these reactions showed that they were first
order in PhC⋮CPh and first order in 3 or 11
with
appreciable negative entropies of activation and that the activation
barrier was higher for the molybdenum reaction.
The crystal structures of 3−8 and
11−13 were determined by the X-ray
analysis.