Addition of LiOHMT (OHMT = O-2,6-dimesitylphenoxide) to W(O)(CH-t-Bu)(PMe2Ph)2Cl2 led to WO(CH-t-Bu)Cl(OHMT)(PMe2Ph) (4). Subsequent addition of Li(2,5-Me2C4H2N) to 4 yielded yellow W(O)(CH-t-Bu)(OHMT)(Me2Pyr)(PMe2Ph) (5). Compound 5 is a highly effective catalyst for the Z-selective coupling of selected terminal olefins (at 0.2% loading) to give product in >75% yield with >99% Z configuration. Addition of two equivalents of B(C6F5)3 to 5 led to catalyst activated at the oxo ligand by B(C6F5)3. 5.B(C6F5)3 is a highly active catalyst that produces thermodynamic products (~20% Z).

Reaction of W(O) 2 (CH 2-t-Bu) 2 (bipy) with a mixture of ZnCl 2 (dioxane), PMe 2 Ph, and trimethylsilyl chloride in toluene at 100 °C produced the known tungsten oxo alkylidene complex, W(O)(CH-t-Bu)Cl 2 (PMe 2 Ph) 2 (1a), in 45% isolated yield. The neophylidene analog, W(O)(CHCMe 2 Ph)Cl 2 (PMe 2 Ph) 2 , was prepared similarly in 39% yield. The reaction between 1a and LiOR (LiOR = LiOHIPT or LiOHMT) in benzene at 22 °C led to formation of off-white W(O)(CH-t-Bu)Cl(OR)(PMe 2 Ph) complexes 4a (OR = OHMT = 2,6-dimesitylphenoxide) or 4b (OR = OHIPT = 2,6-(2,4,6-triisopropylphenyl) 2 phenoxide). Compound 4a serves as a starting material for the synthesis of W(O)(CH-t-Bu)(OHMT)(2,6-diphenylpyrrolide) (6), W(O)(CH-t-Bu)[N(C 6 F 5) 2 ](OHMT)(PMe 2 Ph) (7), W(O)(CH-t-Bu)[OSi(t-Bu) 3 ](OHMT) (8), and W(O)(CH-t-Bu)(OHMT) 2 (10). The reaction between 8 and ethylene was found to yield the square pyramidal metallacyclobutane complex, W(O)(C 3 H 6)[OSi(t-Bu) 3 ](OHMT) (9), while the reaction between 10 and ethylene was found to yield the square pyramidal metallacyclobutane complex, W(O)(C 3 H 6)(OHMT) 2 (11). Compound 11 loses ethylene to yield isolable W(O)(CH 2)(OHMT) 2 (12). X-ray structures were determined for 6, 7, 9, and 12.

A family of highly stable (poly)perfluoroalkylated metallic nitride cluster fullerenes was prepared in high-temperature reactions and characterized by spectroscopic (MS, (19)F NMR, UV-vis/NIR, ESR), structural and electrochemical methods. For two new compounds, Sc(3)N@C(80)(CF(3))(10) and Sc(3)N@C(80)(CF(3))(12,) single crystal X-ray structures are determined. Addition pattern guidelines for endohedral fullerene derivatives with bulky functional groups are formulated as a result of experimental ((19)F NMR spectroscopy and single crystal X-ray diffraction) studies and exhaustive quantum chemical calculations of the structures of Sc(3)N@C(80)(CF(3))(n) (n = 2-16). Electrochemical studies revealed that Sc(3)N@C(80)(CF(3))(n) derivatives are easier to reduce than Sc(3)N@C(80), the shift of E(1/2) potentials ranging from +0.11 V (n = 2) to +0.42 V (n = 10). Stable radical anions of Sc(3)N@C(80)(CF(3))(n) were generated in solution and characterized by ESR spectroscopy, revealing their (45)Sc hyperfine structure. Facile further functionalizations via cycloadditions or radical additions were achieved for trifluoromethylated Sc(3)N@C(80) making them attractive versatile platforms for the design of molecular and supramolecular materials of fundamental and practical importance.

Grafting (ArO)2W(═O)(═CHtBu) (ArO = 2,6-mesitylphenoxide) on partially dehydroxylated silica forms mostly [(≡SiO)W(═O)(═CHtBu)(OAr)] along with minor amounts of [(≡SiO)W(═O)(CH2tBu)(OAr)2] (20%), both fully characterized by elemental analysis and IR and NMR spectroscopies. The well-defined oxo alkylidene surface complex [(≡SiO)W(═O)(═CHtBu)OAr] is among the most active heterogeneous metathesis catalysts reported to date in the self-metathesis of cis-4-nonene and ethyl oleate, in sharp contrast to the classical heterogeneous catalysts based on WO3/SiO2.

Structures of K(2)(H(2)O)(2)B(12)F(12) and K(2)(H(2)O)(4)B(12)F(12) were determined by X-ray diffraction. They contain [K(μ-H(2)O)(2)K](2+) and [(H(2)O)K(μ-H(2)O)(2)K(H(2)O)](2+) dimers, respectively, which interact with superweak B(12)F(12)(2-) anions via multiple K···F(B) interactions and (O)H···F(B) hydrogen bonds (the dimers in K(2)(H(2)O)(4)B(12)F(12) are also linked by (O)H···O hydrogen bonds). DFT calculations show that both dimers are thermodynamically stabilized by the lattice of anions: the predicted ΔE values for the gas-phase dimerization of two K(H(2)O)(+) or K(H(2)O)(2)(+) cations into [K(μ-H(2)O)(2)K](2+) or [(H(2)O)K(μ-H(2)O)(2)K(H(2)O)](2+) are +232 and +205 kJ mol(-1), respectively. The calculations also predict that ΔE for the gas-phase reaction 2 K(+) + 2 H(2)O → [K(μ-H(2)O)(2)K](2+) is +81.0 kJ mol, whereas ΔH for the reversible reaction K(2)B(12)F(12 (s)) + 2 H(2)O((g)) → K(2)(H(2)O)(2)B(12)F(12 (s)) was found to be -111 kJ mol(-1) by differential scanning calorimetry. The K(2)(H(2)O)(0,2,4)B(12)F(12) system is unusual in how rapidly the three crystalline phases (the K(2)B(12)F(12) structure was reported recently) are interconverted, two of them reversibly. Isothermal gravimetric and DSC measurements showed that the reaction K(2)B(12)F(12 (s)) + 2 H(2)O((g)) → K(2)(H(2)O)(2)B(12)F(12 (s)) was complete in as little as 4 min at 25 °C when the sample was exposed to a stream of He or N(2) containing 21 Torr H(2)O((g)). The endothermic reverse reaction required as little as 18 min when K(2)(H(2)O)(2)B(12)F(12) at 25 °C was exposed to a stream of dry He. The products of hydration and dehydration were shown to be crystalline K(2)(H(2)O)(2)B(12)F(12) and K(2)B(12)F(12), respectively, by PXRD, and therefore these reactions are reconstructive solid-state reactions (there is also evidence that they may be single-crystal-to-single-crystal transformations when carried out very slowly). The hydration and dehydration reaction times were both particle-size dependent and carrier-gas flow rate dependent and continued to decrease up to the maximum carrier-gas flow rate of the TGA instrument that was used, demonstrating that the hydration and dehydration reactions were limited by the rate at which H(2)O((g)) was delivered to or swept away from the microcrystal surfaces. Therefore, the rates of absorption and desorption of H(2)O from unit cells at the surface of the microcrystals, and the rate of diffusion of H(2)O across the moving K(2)(H(2)O)(2)B(12)F(12 (s))/K(2)B(12)F(12 (s)) phase boundary, are even faster than the fastest rates of change in sample mass due to hydration and dehydration that were measured. The exchange of 21 Torr H(2)O((g)) with either D(2)O or H(2)(18)O in microcrystalline K(2)(D(2)O)(2)B(12)F(12) or K(2)(H(2)(18)O)(2)B(12)F(12) at 25 °C was also facile and required as little as 45 min to go to completion (H(2)O((g)) replaced both types of isotopically labeled water at the same rate for a given starting sample of K(2)B(12)F(12), demonstrating that water molecules were exchanging, not proton...