Preparation of the dimeric starting
compound [(C5H2
tBu3-1,2,4)Fe(μ-Br)]2 (1) gave a small amount of its green sodium
bromide
adduct [(C5H2
tBu3-1,2,4)Fe(μ-Br)2Na(DME)2] (2). Reduction of 1 under argon in the presence of diphenylacetylene yielded
dark red [(C5H2
tBu3-1,2,4)Fe(μ-CPh)]2 (3) containing two bridging benzylidyne ligands
resulting from diphenylacetylene scission. The dicobalt methylidyne
complex [{(C5HiPr4)Co}2(μ-CH)(μ-H)] (5) was obtained in high yield
from the reaction of [(C5HiPr4)Co(μ-Cl)]2 (4) with two equivalents of methylmagnesium
chloride. According to DFT calculations the dinuclear alkylidyne complexes 3 and 5 contain d6 metal centers,
namely, iron(II) (3) and cobalt(III) (5).
Whereas the benzylidyne ligands of the iron complex 3 display an empty orbital of p
z
character
at the bridging carbon atom, the p
z
orbital
of the methylidyne carbon in the dicobalt complex 5 is
filled with a lone pair of electrons.