Diamagnetic group 6 tetrakis(di-tert-butylketimido)metal(IV) complexes.

The addition of 4 equiv of LiN=C-t-Bu(2) to CrCl(3), MoCl(5), and WCl(6) in diethyl ether produced the complexes M(N=C-t-Bu(2))(4) (M = Cr, Mo, W). Single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies revealed that the molecules have flattened tetrahedral geometries with virtual D(2d) symmetry in the solid state. (1)H and (13)C NMR spectra indicated that the complexes are diamagnetic, and a qualitative MO analysis showed that the orthogonal π-donor and -acceptor orbitals of the ketimide ligand cooperatively split the d(xy) and d(z2) orbitals sufficiently to allow spin pairing in the d(xy) orbital. A more sophisticated quantum-mechanical analysis of Cr(N=C-t-Bu(2))(4) using density functional/molecular mechanics methods confirmed the qualitative analysis by showing that the singlet state is 27 kcal/mol more stable than the triplet state.