MoF6 and WF6: nonrigid molecules?

Calculations reveal that the octahedral-trigonal prismatic-octahedral rearrangement has particularly low-energy barriers for MoF6, WF6, and (hypothetical) CrF6. Experimental evidence is obtained from the dynamic 19F NMR spectra of the derivatives CF3-CH2-O-MoF5, CF3-CH2-O-WF5, C6F5-O-MoF5, C6F5-O-WF5, and (CF3)3C-O-WF5. The ground-state structure of all these compounds is octahedral; at elevated temperatures the nonequivalent metal-bound fluorine atoms undergo an intramolecular exchange. The exchange mechanism could be a 3+3 or a 2+4 twist; calculations favor the 3+3 twist.