Crystal-to-crystal oxidative deprotonation of a di(micro-hydroxo) to a di(micro-oxo) dimer of dimolybdenum units.

A crystal-to-crystal transformation of (DAniF)3Mo2(micro-OH)2Mo2(DAniF)3 (1) to (DAniF)3Mo2(micro-O)2Mo2(DAniF)3 (2), where DAniF is the anion (p-anisyl)NC(H)N(p-anisyl), by dioxygen provides rare insight into the deprotonation process effected by dioxygen. In this dimolybdenum system, the conversion occurs without significant loss of crystallinity. Although no intermediates have been directly observed, a compound containing the [(DAniF)3Mo2(micro-OH)(micro-O)Mo2(DAniF)3]+ cation, a proposed intermediate, has been obtained independently. Possible pathways for the overall conversion of 1 to 2 are discussed.