Complexes with molybdenum compounds

Benzene-Based Catalyst Technology. The catalyst used for the conversion of ben2ene to maleic anhydride consists of supported vanadium oxide [11099-11-9]. The support is an inert oxide such as kieselguhr, alumina [1344-28-17, or sUica, and is of low surface area (142). Supports with higher surface area adversely affect conversion of benzene to maleic anhydride. The conversion of benzene to maleic anhydride is a less complex oxidation than the conversion of butane, so higher catalyst selectivities are obtained. The vanadium oxide on the surface of the support is often modified with molybdenum oxides. There is approximately 70% vanadium oxide and 30% molybdenum oxide [11098-99-0] in the active phase for these fixed-bed catalysts (143). The molybdenum oxide is thought to form either a soUd solution or compound oxide with the vanadium oxide and result in a more active catalyst (142). 

Complexes of molybdenum in the lower valence-states of -t 2 and + 3 have been produced only in the past two years. For the Mo(II) species, the usual starting-material is Mo2(acetate>4. Reaction of this with KS2COEt in THF gives two products, a green complex tentatively assigned as [Mo2(Etxant>4], which solvates to form the red complex [Mo2(Etxant)4(THF)2]. The structure of the latter complex was elucidated by X-ray analysis 169). Steele and Stephenson 170) were also able to synthesize a red, crystalline solid (methanol solution), which they formulated as [Mo(Etxant)2]2 (XI), and reacted this with Lewis bases, e.g., pyridine, to form [Mo(Etxant)2L]2- Thus, there appears to be a difference between the two compounds formulated as [Mo2(Et-xant)2]2 that... 

Of course, not all dissolved ions produce colored solutions, and therefore not all ions in solution can be quantified by colorimetry. Noncolored solutions can sometimes, however, be converted to colored solutions by introducing chromophore species which complex with (i.e., attach themselves to) the target ion to produce a colored solution, which may then be measured by UV/visible colorimetry. An important archaeological example of this is the determination of phosphorus in solution (which is colorless) by com-plexation with a molybdenum compound, which gives a blue solution (see below). The term colorimetry applies strictly only to analytical techniques which use the visible region of the spectrum, whereas spectrophotometry may be applied over a wider range of the electromagnetic spectrum. 

Catalysts are heterogeneous sulfided nickel (or cobalt) molybdenum compounds on a y-alumina. The reaction has been extensively studied with substrates such as thiophene (Figure 2.40) as the model compound mainly with the aims of improving the catalyst performance. The mechanism on the molecular level has not been established. In recent years the reaction has also attracted the interest of organometallic chemists who have tried to contribute to the mechanism by studying the reactions of organometallic complexes with thiophene [41], Many possible co-ordination modes for thiophene have been described. 

Elimination to yield alkenes can be induced thermally or by treatment with acids or bases (for one possible mechanism, see Figure 3.39) [138,206]. Less common thermal demetallations include the thermolysis of arylmethyloxy(phenyl)carbene complexes, which can lead to the formation of aryl-substituted acetophenones [276]. Further, (difluoroboroxy)carbene complexes of molybdenum, which can be prepared by treating molybdenum hexacarbonyl with an organolithium compound and then with boron trifluoride etherate at -60 °C, decompose at room temperature to yield acyl radicals [277]. 

The addition of the ligands MejPS, MeaPhPS, PhaPS, MeaAsS, and Me2PhPSe (L) to u.v.-irradiated THF solutions of [W(CO)g] has afforded the new [W(CO)sL] derivatives. The corresponding molybdenum compounds could be isolated only with difficulty and in lower yield. I.r. spectral studies have shown that the complexes probably involve a non-linear M—S(Se)—P arrangement. ... 

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