Synthesis,Structure, Bonding,and Reactivity of Metal Complexes Comprising Diborane(4) and Diborene(2): [{Cp*Mo(CO)2}2{μ‐η2:η2‐B2H4}] and [{Cp*M(CO)2}2B2H2M(CO)4], M=Mo,W

The reaction of [(Cp*Mo)₂(μ‐Cl)₂B₂H₆] ( 1 ) with CO at room temperature led to the formation of the highly fluxional species [{Cp*Mo(CO)₂}₂{μ‐η²:η²‐B₂H₄}] ( 2 ). Compound 2, to the best of our knowledge, is the first example of a bimetallic diborane(4) conforming to a singly bridged C_s structure. Theoretical studies show that 2 mimics the Cotton dimolybdenum–alkyne complex [{CpMo(CO)₂}₂C₂H₂]. In an attempt to replace two hydrogen atoms of diborane(4) in 2 with a 2e [W(CO)₄] fragment, [{Cp*Mo(CO)₂}₂ B₂H₂W(CO)₄] ( 3 ) was isolated upon treatment with [W(CO)₅⋅thf]. Compound 3 shows the intriguing presence of [B₂H₂] with a short B−B length of 1.624(4) Å. We isolated the tungsten analogues of 3 , [{Cp*W(CO)₂}₂B₂H₂W(CO)₄] ( 4 ) and [{Cp*W(CO)₂}₂B₂H₂Mo(CO)₄] ( 5 ), which provided direct proof of the existence of the tungsten analogue of 2 .