Reactions of chromium,molybdenum and tungsten carbonyls with a tetradentate schiff base

Interaction of metal carbonyls M(CO)₆ (M?=?Cr, Mo and W) with the tetradentate Schiff base bis(salicylaldehyde)phenylenediimine (salphenH₂) was studied in THF. Under reduced pressure, reaction of salphenH₂ with M(CO)₆ (M?=?Cr, Mo) yielded Cr(CO)₂(salphen) 1 and MoO(CO)(salphen) 2. The complexes MoO₂(salphenH)₂ 3 and W₂O₆(salphenH₂) 4 were isolated from reactions in air. All the complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, mass spectrometry and IR and ¹H?NMR spectroscopy. Spectroscopic studies of the reported complexes revealed the proposed structures. The UV-vis spectra of the complexes in different solvents showed bands due to either metal-to-ligand or ligand-to-metal charge transfer. Thermal properties of the chromium and molybdenum complexes were investigated by thermogravimetric techniques.