Preparation of some oxoniobium carboxylates. X-Ray crystal and molecular structure of [{NbCl3(O2CPh)}2O]

Abstract

Reaction of NbCl₅ with aryl carboxylic acids yields the oxoniobium carboxylates [{NbCl₃(O₂CR)}₂O](R = Ph, p-MeC₆H₄′o-MeC₆H₄′p-FC₆H₄′p-ClC₆H₄′o-FC₆H₄′o-ClC₆H₄′o-BrC₆H₄ or 2,6-Cl₂C₆H₃). Crystal structure analysis of the benzoate derivative shows the presence of a µ-oxo-bis(µ-carboxylato) dimetal core; each niobium atom is in a distorted octahedral environment, the other three sites on each metal being occupied by chlorine atoms. Spectroscopic data suggest similar structures for the remaining species.