Phosphorus–carbon bond cleavage at a dimolybdenum centre: isomerisation of [Mo2(CO)3(PPh3)(µ-HC2H)(η-C5H5)2] to [Mo2(CO)2(µ-PPh2){µ-η3-HC2(H)C(O)Ph}(η-C5H5)2]
Abstract
The µ-ethyne complex [Mo2(CO)4(µ-HC2H)(η-C5H5)2] undergoes and initial substitution reaction with PPh3 to give [Mo2(CO)3(PPh3)(µ-HC2H)(η-C5H5)2], followed by phenyl migration from phosphorus to CO then benzoyl migration to the alkyne, yielding the isomer [Mo2(CO)2(µ-PPh2){µ-HC2(H)C(O)Ph}(η-C5H5)2], structurally characterised by X-ray diffraction.