75al., 1995), we obtained the mononuclear isocyanide complexes [CpMo(SPh)(CO)(CNR)2]: (1) R = tBu and (2) R = xylyl. At 293 K, solutions of both (1) and (2) contain two isomeric species. Thus, the 13C NMR spectra show two signals of differing intensity for the CO and Cp ligands; the latter also displays two 1H signals. For the CNR groups two patterns are also observed, one consisting of two signals of equal intensity, the other of a single signal. These results can be explained if solutions of (1) and (2) contain a mixture of cis and trans geometric isomers. The two isomers do not appear to interconvert readily between 293 and 353 K in solution. Although their relative abundances are different in different solvents, the cis form is always the major component. Only a single isomer of (1) could be obtained as a crystalline solid; when this solid was dissolved in toluene-d8 at 210 K, the IH NMR spectrum at 210 K of the resulting solution indicated the presence of only the cis isomer.
,H°To confirm this spectroscopic interpretation we have determined the structure of (1) by X-ray analysis (Fig. 1). As expected, the complex is a mononuclear 18-electron MoII species. The metal atom adopts four-legged piano-stool coordination with cis isocyanide groups. Similar metal coordination occurs in the recently described complex [CpW(CO)2(p-S-C6Hn-CH3)(CNtBu)] (Shaver, Hynes & Trojansek, 1994) which, like (1), exists as a mixture of isomers in solution; however, only the trans isomer of this tungsten compound could be obtained as a crystalline solid.The Mo--S bond length in (1) The Mo---CNtBu bond lengths differ by 0.033 (6)A, the longer bond being trans to CO. This may reflect the greater trans influence of the 7r-acid CO compared with that of thiolate. The longest Mo--C(Cp) bond (to C31) is that most nearly trans to CO (see Fig. 1). There are previous suggestions that trans influence may be an explanation of bond-length trends in Mo piano-stool complexes (e.g. see Creswick & Bernal, 1982). Other structural features of (1)
ExperimentalReactions were performed under argon using standard Schlenk techniques and solvents were deoxygenated and dried by standard methods. [Cp2Mo2(#-H)(#-SPh)(CO)4] (200 mg, 0.37 mmol) was dissolved in 30 ml of toluene together with 3 equivalents of isocyanide (1.1 mmol) and irradiated with UV light for 2 h. The solution changed from red to orange during this time. The solvent was removed under vacuum. The residue was then dissolved in the minimum amount of dichloromethane and chromatographed on a silica gel column. Elution with dichloromethane:tetrahydrofuran (100:1) gave an orange 76 [Mo(C6 H5 S)(C5 H9 N)2 (C5 H5 ) (CO)] band of (1) which was washed with pentane. Recrystallization N2 from diethyl ether gave (1) lamp placed approximately 10 cm from a Pyrex vessel. Spec-c42 troscopic data for (1) and (2) have been deposited.Crystal data (,4, °) Cp is the centroid of the cyclopentadienyl ring C31-C35. Data collection: CAD-4 Express (Enraf-Nonius, 1992). Cell refinement: CAD-4 Express. Data red...