Thermochemistry of molybdenum tricarbonyl complexes of arenes and cyclic polyolefins

The heats of reaction of arene, cycloheptatriene, and cyclooctatetraene complexes of molybdenum tricarbonyl with pyridine yielding (py)₃Mo(CO)₃ have been measured by solution calorimetry. Reaction of toluene molybdenum tricarbonyl with cyclopentadiene yielding HMo(CO)₃C₅H₅ and with tetrahydrofuran yielding (THF)₃Mo(CO)₃ have also been studied thermochemically. These measurements yield accurate values for the enthalpy of arene exchange in methylene chloride solution for a number of organomolybdenum complexes. The order of stability: benzene < toluene < cyclooctatetraene < mesitylene < hexamethylbenzene < cycloheptatriene < (tris)-tetrahydrofuran < η⁵-cyclopentadienylhydrido < (tris)-pyridine spans a range of 31 kcal/mol.The enthalpy of isomerization of cycloheptatriene to toluene is reduced by 7.1 ± 1.2 kcal/mol upon coordination to molybdenum tricarbonyl, indicative of a loss of “resonance” energy for the complexed arene. The MoH bond strength in HMo(CO)₃C₅H₅ is estimated as 66 ± 8 kcal/mol. The importance of entropic factors in arene exchange is discussed.