Neutral, acetate-bridged, binuclear alkyls of rhenium(III)

Abstract

The binuclear methyl compound Re₂Me₂(O₂CMe)₄ is obtained from the interaction of dilithium octamethyl-dirhenate(III), Li₂Re₂Me₈·2Et₂O, with acetic acid. Other neutral, acetate-bridged, binuclear alkyls of stoicheiometry Re₂R₄(O₂CMe)₂(R = CH₂SiMe₃, CH₂CMe₃, CH₂CMe₂Ph, and CH₂Ph) are obtained from the interaction of the dialkylmagnesiums, R₂Mg, with tetra-acetatodichlorodirhenium(III), Re₂(O₂CMe)₄Cl₂, in diethyl ether.

The compounds which evidently contain strong rhenium–rhenium quadruple bonds have been characterised by i.r. and n.m.r. spectroscopy (¹H and ¹³C{¹H}). The results of structure determinations by X-ray crystallography are also reported briefly.