C O M M U N I C A T I O N S
(9) Compounds with η2-C(R)dCR2 ligands are also referred to as 1-metalla-
cyclopropene complexes, a description that better portrays the bonding
situation (See: Casey, C. P.; Brady, J. T.; Boller, T. M.; Weinhold, F.;
Hayashi, R. K. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1998, 120, 12500–12511. ). In accord
with this description, the Mo-C bond lengths of (κ1,η2-
viewed as originating from [Se(C6H4)(CH)4(C6H4)Se] Via a se-
quence that involves both C-Se and C-H bond cleavage reactions.
The bonding in this complex is highly delocalized, but a salient
feature is that the “quaternary” carbon of the [Se(C6H4)-
(CH)C(CH)2(C6H4)] ligand interacts to a similar degree with both
molybdenum atoms, with bond lengths [2.110(2) Å and 2.160(2)
Å] that are comparable to the Mo-aryl interaction [2.107(2) Å].
Furthermore, the Mo-Mo separation [2.7394(3) Å] is in the range
for a single bond, although bond distance alone is not a sufficient
criterion for establishing bond orders in such systems.28
In summary, the reactions of Mo(PMe3)6 with benzothiophene,
selenophene, and benzoselenophene reveal reaction pathways that
are pertinent to the mechanisms of hydrodesulfurization. Of
particular note, cleavage of the C-S bond of benzothiophene results
in the formation of three isomers, namely (κ2-CHCHC6H4S)-
Mo(PMe3)4 (1), (κ1,η2-CH2CHC6H4S)Mo(PMe3)3(η2-CH2PMe2) (2),
and (κ1,η2-CH2CC6H4S)Mo(PMe3)4 (3), thereby providing evidence
for the types of interconversions that may occur on the surface of
an HDS catalyst. Furthermore, Mo(PMe3)6 undergoes a novel
reaction with selenophene to give the metallacyclopentadiene
complex [(κ2-C4H4)Mo(PMe3)3(Se)]2[Mo(PMe3)4] (κ1,η2-CH2-
CHC6H4S)Mo(PMe3)3(η2-CH2PMe2) (5), thereby demonstrating that
the molybdenum is capable of completely abstracting selenium from
the heterocycle.
CH2CC6H4S)Mo(PMe3) are 1.953(1) and 2.294(1) Å, corresponding to
4
single and double bonds, respectively.
(10) A related ligand derived from thiophene, namely κ1,κ1-CH2CCHCHS, has
been reported, but the vinyl group only coordinates in a κ1-manner with a
five-membered thiametallacyclopentene motif. See ref 5a.
(11) Mononuclear compounds that feature the [(κ1,η2-CH2CHC6H4S)M] motif
have been described for metals other than molybdenum. For example, see:
(a) Bianchini, C.; Frediani, P.; Herrera, V.; Jime´nez, M. V.; Meli, A.;
Rinco´n, L.; Sa´nchez-Delgado, R.; Vizza, F. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1995, 117,
4333–4346. (b) Bianchini, C.; Meli, A.; Peruzzini, M.; Vizza, F.; Moneti,
S.; Herrera, V.; Sa´nchez-Delgado, R. A. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1994, 116,
4370–4381.
(12) Although the relative stabilities of (κ1,η2-CH2CHC6H4S)Mo(PMe3)3-(η2-
CH2PMe2) and (κ1,η2-CH2CC6H4S)Mo(PMe3)4 are not known experimen-
tally, density functional theory calculations (B3LYP and cc-pVTZ(-f)/
LACV3P basis sets) predict that the latter is more stable by 7.2 kcal
mol-1
.
(13) While the deuterium labeling of (κ1,η2-CHDCHC6H4S)Mo(PMe3)3(η2-
CH2PMe2) is stereoselective at room temperature, upon heating at 60 °C
the deuterium scrambles statistically into both sites of the methylene group.
Significantly, this exchange occurs without accessing the η2-vinyl complex
(κ1,η2-CH2CC6H4S)Mo(PMe3)4.
(14) It is pertinent to note that this labeling pattern is not observed upon formation
of the butadiene-thiolate complex (η5-C4H5S)Mo(PMe3)2(η2-CH2PMe2)
Via reaction of Mo(PMe3)6 with d4-thiophene (see ref 4c), thereby indicating
that the mechanisms for formation of (η5-C4H5S)Mo(PMe3)2(η2-CH2PMe2)
and (κ1,η2-CH2CHC6H4S)Mo(PMe3)3(η2-CH2PMe2) are not analogous.
(15) For an example of isomerization of {(κ2-CHCHC6H4S)MH} to {(κ1,η2-
CH2CHC6H4S)M}, see ref 11.
(16) In this regard, it is pertinent to note that the formation of a butadiene-
thiolate complex Via addition of D+ or D- to η5-thiophene complexes occurs
with the deuterium being respectively incorporated into cis and trans sites
relative to the adjacent CH group. These labeling patterns are consistent
with C-S bond cleavage within a η4-C4H4DS species for which the
deuterium is located respectively in the endo (for D+) and exo (for D-)
positions. See: (a) Luo, S.; Rauchfuss, T. B.; Gan, Z. J. Am. Chem. Soc.
1993, 115, 4943–4944. (b) Luo, S.; Rauchfuss, T. B.; Wilson, S. R. J. Am.
Chem. Soc. 1992, 114, 8515–8520. (c) Hachgenei, J. W.; Angelici, R. J. J.
Organomet. Chem. 1988, 355, 359–378.
Acknowledgment. We thank the U.S. Department of Energy,
Office of Basic Energy Sciences (DE-FG02-93ER14339) for support
of this research.
Supporting Information Available: Experimental details, compu-
tational data and crystallographic data in CIF format. This material is
(17) For another example involving hydrogenation of a κ1,η2-CH2CHC6H4S
ligand, see: Bianchini, C.; Herrera, V.; Jimenez, M. V.; Meli, A.; Sa´nchez-
Delgado, R.; Vizza, F. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1995, 117, 8567–8575.
(18) For a related tungsten alkoxide compound, W(PMe3)4(OC6H4Et)H3, see:
Rabinovich, D.; Zelman, R.; Parkin, G. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1992, 114, 4611–
4621.
References
(1) For recent reviews, see: (a) Stirling, D. The Sulfur Problem: Cleaning up
Industrial Feedstocks; RSC Clean Technology Monographs: 2000. (b)
Brunet, S.; Mey, D.; Pe´rot, G.; Bouchy, C.; Diehl, F. Appl. Catal., A:
General 2005, 278, 143–172. (c) Mochida, I.; Choi, K.-H. J. Jpn. Pet. Inst.
2004, 47, 145–163. (d) Choudhary, T. V. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2007, 46,
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(2) For review articles concerned with modeling HDS, see: (a) Sa´nchez-
Delgado, R. A. Organometallic Modelling of the Hydrodesulfurization and
Hydrodenitrogenation Reactions; Kluwer Academic Publishers: Boston,
2002. (b) Sa´nchez-Delgado, R. A. In ComprehensiVe Organometallic
Chemistry III, Volume 1, Chapter 27; Crabtree, R. H., Mingos, D. M. P.,
Eds.; Elsevier: Oxford, 2006. (c) Angelici, R. J. Organometallics 2001,
20, 1259–1275. (d) Bianchini, C.; Meli, A.; Vizza, F. J. Organomet. Chem.
2004, 689, 4277–4290.
(3) Sadimenko, A. P. AdV. Heterocycl. Chem. 2001, 78, 1–64.
(4) (a) Churchill, D. G.; Bridgewater, B. M.; Parkin, G. J. Am. Chem. Soc.
2000, 122, 178–179. (b) Churchill, D. G.; Bridgewater, B. M.; Zhu, G.;
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4182–4183.
(19) [(κ2-C4H4)Mo(PMe3)3(Se)]2[Mo(PMe3)4] may be conceptually viewed to
be a result of Mo(PMe3)6 trapping two [(κ2-C4H4)Mo(PMe3)3(Se)] moieties.
(20) For examples of chalcogen abstraction from thiophenes and tellurophenes
by polynuclear species, see: (a) Arce, A. J.; Arrojo, P.; Deeming, A. J.; De
Sanctis, Y. J. Chem. Soc., Dalton Trans. 1992, 2423–2424. (b) Arce, A. J.;
De Sanctis, Y.; Karam, A.; Deeming, A. J. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. Engl.
1994, 33, 1381–1383. (c) Arce, A. J.; Karam, A.; De Sanctis, Y.; Machado,
R.; Capparelli, M. V.; Manzur, J. Inorg. Chim. Acta 1997, 254, 119–130.
(d) Ogilvy, A. E.; Draganjac, M.; Rauchfuss, T. B.; Wilson, S. R.
Organometallics 1988, 7, 1171–1177.
(21) Murphy, V. J.; Parkin, G. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1995, 117, 3522–3528.
(22) For example, the Mo-Se bond length in (κ1,η2-CH2CC6H4Se)Mo(PMe3)4,
which is predicted to be a single bond on the basis of the 18-electron
configuration, is 2.7101(4) Å (see Supporting Information).
(23) z corresponds to the 2-fold axis and x corresponds to the Se-Mo-Se axis
for the central molybdenum.
(24) Note that the in-phase combinations of 4pz and 4py orbitals of the two
selenium atoms are of appropriate symmetry to interact with 4d orbitals of
both the inner and outer molybdenum atoms.
(5) For reviews of compounds with butadiene-thiolate (thiapentadienyl)
ligands, see: (a) Bleeke, J. R. Organometallics 2005, 24, 5190–5207. (b)
Paz-Sandoval, M. A.; Rangel-Salas, I. I. Coord. Chem. ReV. 2006, 250,
1071–1106.
(25) (a) Vicic, D. A.; Jones, W. D. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1997, 119, 10855–10856.
(b) Vicic, D. A.; Jones, W. D. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1999, 121, 7606–7617.
(26) Jones has also reported the extraction of sulfur from thiophene by the iridium
hydride complex [Cp*IrH3]2, in the presence of ButC2H3, although in this
case the transformation is also accompanied by hydrogenation to give the
butadiene complex [Cp*Ir]2(µ-S)(µ-C4H6). See: Jones, W. D.; Chin, R. M.
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1994, 116, 198–203.
(27) For a similar ligand derived from thiophene, see: Jones, W. D.; Chin, R. M.
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1992, 114, 9851–9858.
(28) Baik, M.-H.; Friesner, R. A.; Parkin, G. Polyhedron 2004, 23, 2879–2900.
(6) For another example of C-S cleavage of benzothiophene by molybdenum,
see ref 4a.
(7) The metrical details associated with the molybdenum-olefin interaction
of (η1,η2-CH2CHC6H4S)Mo(PMe3)3(η2-CH2PMe2) indicate that there is a
significant metallacyclopropane component to the bonding description, with
d(Mo-C) ) 2.268(2) and 2.304(1) Å and d(C-C) ) 1.420(2) Å.
(8) Frohnapfel, D. S.; Templeton, J. L. Coord. Chem. ReV. 2000, 206-207,
199–235.
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