Formation, structure and reactivity of boryloxycarbyne complexes of group 6 metals.

Reaction of the diborane(4) B(2)(NMe(2))(2)I(2) with two equivalents of K[(eta(5)-C(5)H(5))M(CO)(3)] (M=Cr, Mo, W) yielded the dinuclear boryloxycarbyne complexes [[(eta(5)-C(5)H(5))(OC)(2)M(triple bond)CO](2)B(2)(NMe(2))(2)] (4 a, M=Mo; b, M=W; c, M=Cr), which were fully characterised in solution by multinuclear NMR methods. The Mo and W complexes 4 a, b proved to be kinetically favoured products of this reaction and underwent quantitative rearrangement in solution to afford the complexes [[(eta(5)-C(5)H(5))(OC)(2)M(triple bond)CO]B(NMe(2))B(NMe(2))[M(CO)(3)(eta(5)-C(5)H(5))]] (5 a, M=Mo; b, M=W); 5 a was characterised by X-ray crystallography in the solid state. Corresponding reactions of…