The preparation and crystal structure of trinuclear molybdenum compound (Me4N)[Mo3(μ3-O)(μ-Cl)3(μ-O2CH)3Cl3]

The title compound was prepared by the oxidation of MoCl₃ in liquid phase. The crystal belongs to the orthorhombic system with space group D-Pmnb and unit cell parameters: a = 11.403 (1), b = 12.345 (2), c = 14.292 (2) Å; V = 2011.8 ų; Z = 4, D_c = 2.396g/cm³. Altogether 2303 independent reflections were collected on a CAD-4 four-circle diffractometer with Mo Kα radiation in range 2° ≤ θ ≤ 27°. The crystal structure was solved by heavy-atoms method and refined by full-matrix least-squares technique to final discrepancy factors R = 0.050 and R_w= 0.056 for 1513 reflections of I ≥ 3σ (I). The configuration of the cluster anion was characterized to be of the same Ml type structure as presented in the previous paper. The average bond lengths of Mo—Mo and Mo-(μ₃-O) are 2.577 Å and 1.982 Å respectively. In addition, the effects of bridging atoms, other ligands and bond orders on Mo—Mo bonds are discussed briefly.