Structures, relative energies, vibrational spectra, and ESR parameters of the 17emolecule V(CO) 6 in O h , D 3d , D 4h , and D 2h symmetry have been computed with density functional and high-level ab initio methods. At all theoretical levels applied, the same energetic order is obtained, D 3d < D 2h < D 4h < O h , with the D 2h structure as a transition state connecting equivalent D 3d species. At the RCCSD(T)/AE2 level using UBP86/ AE2 geometries, the energies of the D 2h , D 4h and O h species relative to that of D 3d minimum are predicted to be 210, 535, and 731 cm -1 , respectively. According to molecular dynamics simulations on the UBP86/AE1 potential energy surface, the D 3d minimum is preserved at very low temperatures (around 16 K), whereas at 300 K the molecule is highly fluxional with an averaged structure indistinguishable from that of [V(CO) 6 ]with its O h symmetric ground state. Nearly complete IR and Raman spectra of V(CO) 6 and V( 13 CO) 6 have been recorded at 300 K for the first time in the gas phase, in solution, and at cryogenic temperatures in Ne and Ar matrices. The spectra show a pronounced temperature dependence, especially for the Jahn-Teller active modes, E g and T 2g . The observed infrared matrix spectra generally agree well with the calculated spectrum (BP86/AE2 level) for the D 3d structure and much less with that of the D 4h isomer. The A 1g modes in the Raman spectra are reasonably well reproduced computationally in the harmonic approximation, whereas this approximation breaks down for the E g and T 2g bands, as expected. Further evidence for the D 3d symmetry of V(CO) 6 is obtained from a reanalysis of the experimental ESR spectrum that is reported in the literature. The observed ordering of the hyperfine coupling constants A | and A ⊥ is reproduced theoretically only when distortion to D 3d symmetry is assumed. In addition, the bonding properties of V(CO) 6 are compared to those of [V(CO) 6 ]and Cr(CO) 6 .