Tantalum(v) oxoalkoxides. Synthesis and structure

Anodic oxidation of tantalum in isopropyl alcohol or prolonged reflux of an alcohol solution of Ta(OPrⁱ)₅ afford crystalline oxoisopropoxide Ta₂O(OPrⁱ)₈ · PrⁱOH (1). In its molecule, two octahedra about Ta atoms are linkedvia the shared edge [(OPrⁱ)O]. Compound1 is the first example of oxoalkoxide containing such a small number of metal atoms. Unlike the known polynuclear molecules M_nO_m(OR)_p, oxoalkoxide1 is stable in solutions; on transition to the gas phase, this compound is desolvated to form a very stable molecule Ta₂O(OPrⁱ)₈ (apparently, consisting of two octahedra with a shared edge). According to the data of mass spectrometry, analogous molecules exist in the gas phase over Ta(OAlk)₅ (Alk = Me, Et, Prⁱ, or Bu¹¹). When compound1 is heated invacuo (10^–2–10^–3 Torr), Ta(OPrⁱ)₅ is sublimated. Crystals of Ta₇O₉(OPrⁱ)₁₇ (2) were formed upon prolonged storage of solutions of1 in PrⁱOH. Heptanuclear molecule2 consists of two [Ta₄] tetrahedra with a shared vertex. These tetrahedra are additionally linked togethervia one ₃-oxo and two ₂-OPrⁱ groups. Complex2 is a representative of heptameric oxoalkoxides of a new structural type.Deceased in I995.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 1, pp. 125–131, January, 1996.