Tungsten-metal bonding

The neutral complexes of chromium, molybdenum, tungsten, and vanadium are six-coordinate and the CO molecules are arranged about the metal in an octahedral configuration as shown in stmcture (3). Vanadium carbonyl possesses an unpaired electron and would be expected to form a metal—metal bond. Steric hindrance may prevent dimerization. The other hexacarbonyls are diamagnetic. 

For the heavier congenors, tungsten in the group oxidation state is much more stable to reduction, and it is apparently the last element in the third transition series in which all the 5d electrons participate in metal bonding. 

Metal-metal bonds and metal-carbon bonds in the chemistry of molybdenum and tungsten alkox-ides. M. H. Chisholm, Polyhedron, 1983, 2, 681-721 (90). 

Many carbonyl and carbonyl metallate complexes of the second and third row, in low oxidation states, are basic in nature and, for this reason, adequate intermediates for the formation of metal— metal bonds of a donor-acceptor nature. Furthermore, the structural similarity and isolobal relationship between the proton and group 11 cations has lead to the synthesis of a high number of cluster complexes with silver—metal bonds.1534"1535 Thus, silver(I) binds to ruthenium,15 1556 osmium,1557-1560 rhodium,1561,1562 iron,1563-1572 cobalt,1573 chromium, molybdenum, or tungsten,1574-1576 rhe-nium, niobium or tantalum, or nickel. Some examples are shown in Figure 17. 

A set of oxygen donor atoms, providing both a and tt donation to a metal center, is not appropriate to stabilize any low oxidation state of a metal.19 This is, however, a synthetic advantage since very reactive, unstable, low-valent metalla-calix[4]arenes can be generated in situ and intercepted by an appropriate substrate. In the absence of a suitable substrate, the reactive fragment, however, can collapse to form metal-metal bonded dimers. The formation of metal-metal bonds has been, however, so far observed in the case of Group V and VI metals only. The most complete sequence so far reported has been for tungsten, molybdenum, and niobium. 

Reactions of Metal-Metal Bonded Alkoxides of Molybdenum and Tungsten... 

Having established structural and electronic analogies between metal oxides and alkoxides of molybdenum and tungsten, the key remaining feature to be examined is the reactivity patterns of the metal-alkoxides. Metal-metal bonds provide both a source and a returning place for electrons in oxidative-addition and reductive elimination reactions. Stepwise transformations of M-M bond order, from 3 to 4 (37,38), 3 to 2 and 1 (39) have now been documented. The alkoxides M2(0R)6 (MiM) are coordinatively unsaturated, as is evident from their facile reversible reactions with donor ligands, eq. 1, and are readily oxidized in addition reactions of the type shown in equations 2 (39) and 3 (39). 

Metal-metal bonds in molybdenum and tungsten alkoxides provide a ready source of electrons for oxidative-addition reactions and addition reactions involving ir-acidic ligands. 

The octahedral metal clusters that have long been familiar features of the lower halide chemistry of niobium, tantalum, molybdenum, and tungsten represent a category of cluster different from those so far considered in that their metal-metal bonding is best treated as involving four AO s on each metal 49, 133,144,165,178). 

The cohesiveness of metallic structures (equivalent to their bond strengths) is demonstrated by their enthalpies of atomization, Aa//e. The values for lithium and beryllium are 161 and 321 kJ mol, respectively. For comparison, the values for iron and tungsten metals are 418 and 844 kJ mol... 

The [WsXg]44 clusters are diamagnetic and with the 24 available metal electrons there is a metal-metal bond of order one between each pair of tungsten atoms, in agreement with theoretical treatment of the electronic structure of these clusters.354,355... 

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