Molybdenum 1,4-diazabuta-1,3-diene tricarbonyl solvento complexes revisited: from solvatochromism to attractive ligand-ligand interaction.

Various complexes of the types [Mo(DAD)(CO)(3)L] (L = CO, MeCN, MeOH, THF, DMSO, DMF, Me(2)CO, EtOAc, THT, Im(H), Im(1), tBuNC, nBu(3)P), (ER(4))[Mo(DAD)(CO)(3)X] (ER(4) = NEt(4)(+); X(-) = Cl(-), Br(-), I(-), NCS(-), CN(-) and ER(4)(+) = PPh(4)(+); X(-) = N(3)(-)), and (ER(4))[{Mo(DAD)(CO)(3)}(2)(μ-X)] (ER(4)(+) = NEt(4)(+); X(-) = CN(-), OAc(-) and ER(4)(+) = PPh(4)(+); X(-) = N(3)(-); DAD = N,N'-bis(2,6-dimethylphenyl)butane-2,3-diimine) were prepared by ligand exchange from cycloheptatriene molybdenum tricarbonyl. A total of 19 crystal structures were determined, including unprecedented structural characterization of molybdenum(0) coordination by dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), methanol, ethyl acetate (EtOAc), acetone, and N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF). Correlation of (13)C NMR shifts with the complex geometry suggests a direct ligand-ligand interaction between DAD and O-bonded coligands with C═O and S═O double bonds, such as EtOAc, Me(2)CO, DMF, and DMSO. Unexpectedly, the solvatochromic properties of these tricarbonyl complexes [Mo(DAD)(CO)(3)L] are unfavorable for the determination of Kamlet-Taft parameters of the corresponding solvent L. Contrastingly, the UV/vis absorption of [Mo(DAD)(CO)(4)] is strongly correlated with the Kamlet-Taft parameter π*, which is shown for 22 solvents, including seven room temperature ionic liquids.