Multiply-bonded species structure

As in main-group chemistry, hypovalent hydrides of the transition series have pronounced tendencies to form bridging tau bonds. In addition to H4TaTaH4, the multiply bonded species HTaTaH features two symmetrically bridging hydrides. Despite the complexity introduced by such tau bonds, the Ta-Ta interaction clearly has high bond order, as simple Lewis-like structures prescribe. 

The first stable silaallene, 56, was synthesized in 1993 " " by the intramolecular attack of an organolithium reagent at the /f-carbon of a fluoroalkynylsilane (Scheme 16). Addition of two equivalents of r-butyllithium in toluene at O C to compound 54 gave intermediate 55. The a-lithiofluorosilane then eliminated lithium fluoride at room temperature to form the 1-silaallene 56, which was so sterically hindered that it did not react with ethanol even at reflux temperatures. 1-Silaallene 56 was the first, and so far the only, multiply bonded silicon species to be unreactive toward air and water. The X-ray crystal structure and NMR spectra of 56 is discussed in Sect. IVA. 

Figure 3. Three basic strategies for the incorporation of multiply bonded metal-metal guest species into vanadyl and zirconium phosphate host layers, (a) The direct intercalation of solvated M—— M cores into the native layered phosphate host structure, (b) Incorporation of M—— M complexes with ancillary ligands containing a Lewis basic site, (c) Coordination of M—— M cores with ligands provided from modified phosphate layers.

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