Studies on Bis(imido) molybdenum complexes containing unsaturated hydrocarbon ligands

This thesis describes the synthesis and characterisation of molybdenum bis(imido) complexes containing unsaturated hydrocarbon ligands. A principal objective of the work was to examine the effect of various imido substituents on the coordination number of the complex and the orientations adopted by olefin and acetylene ligands. Chapter One highlights areas of transition metal chemistry relevant to the thesis, with particular emphasis on the psuedo-isolobal analogy between cyclopentadienyl and imido ligands, A convenient one-pot synthesis of molybdenum bis(imido) complexes of the type Mo(NR)(NR')Cl(_2).DME (R=R'=l-adamantyl, 2-t- BUC(_6)H(_4); R=2,6-i-Pr(_2)C(_6)H(_3), R'=t-Bu) is described in Chapter Two. Mo(N-l- adamantyl)(O)Cl(_2).DME has been synthesised, and its structure determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction.- The preparation of olefin complexes Mo(NR)(NR')(C(_2)H(_4))(PMe(_3))n (R=R'=l-adamantyl, n=l; R=R'=2-t-BuC(_6)H(_4), n=2; R=2,6-i-Pr(_2)C(_6)H(_3), R'=t- Bu, n=l) is outlined in Chapter Three. Structural information derived from NMR data has allowed comparison with metallocene-like olefin adducts. Chapter Four describes the synthesis of complexes containing σ-bound phenyl ligands (Mo(NR)(NR')(σ-C(_6)H(_5))(PMe(_3)) (R=R'=l-adamantyl, 2-t-BuC(_6)H(_4); R=2,6-i-Pr(_2)C(_6)H(_3), R'=t-Bu)) as potential precursors to benzyne complexes. Chapter Five describes the preparation of diphenylacetylene complexes Mo(NR)(NR')(PhC=CPh)(PMe(_3)), structural information derived from NMR data allows comparison with previously known metallocene-like acetylene complexes. Full experimental details for Chapters Two to Five are given in Chapter Six.