Syntheses of chromium pentacarbonyl derivatives of arsenic(V) and antimony(V). contrasting chemical reactivity with organic halogen derivatives

We have synthesized a new series of chromium-group 15 dihydride and hydride complexes [H(2)As(Cr(CO)(5))(2)](-) (1) and [HE(Cr(CO)(5))(3)](2)(-) (E = As, 2a; E = Sb, 2b), which represent the first examples of group 6 complexes containing E-H fragments. The contrasting chemical reactivity of 2a and 2b with organic halogen derivatives is demonstrated. The reaction of 2a with RBr (R = PhCH(2), HC triple bond CCH(2)) produces the RX addition products [(R)(Br)As(Cr(CO)(5))(2)](-) (R = PhCH(2), 3; R = C(3)H(3), 4), while the treatment of 2b with RX (RX = PhCH(2)Br or HC triple bond CCH(2)Br, CH(3)(CH(2))(5)C(O)Cl) forms the halo-substituted complexes [XSb(Cr(CO)(5))(3)](2-) (X = Br, 5; X = Cl, 6). Moreover, the dihaloantimony complexes [XX'Sb(Cr(CO)(5))(2)](-) can be obtained from the reaction of 2b with the appropriate organic halides. In this study, a series of organoarsenic and antimony chromium carbonyl complexes have been synthesized and structurally characterized and the role of the main group on the formation of the resultant complexes is also discussed.