Oxidative stretching of metal-metal bonds to their limits.

Oxidation of quadruply bonded Cr2(dpa)4, Mo2(dpa)4, MoW(dpa)4, and W2(dpa)4 (dpa = 2,2'-dipyridylamido) with 2 equiv of silver(I) triflate or ferrocenium triflate results in the formation of the two-electron-oxidized products Cr2(dpa)4 (1), Mo2(dpa)4 (2), MoW(dpa)4 (3), and W2(dpa)4 (4). Additional two-electron oxidation and oxygen atom transfer by m-chloroperoxybenzoic acid results in the formation of the corresponding metal-oxo compounds Mo2O(dpa)4 (5), WMoO(dpa)4 (6), and W2O(dpa)4 (7), which feature an unusual linear M···M≡O structure. Crystallographic studies of the two-electron-oxidized products 2, 3, and 4, which have the appropriate number of orbitals and electrons to form metal-metal triple bonds, show bond distances much longer (by >0.5 Å) than those in established triply bonded compounds, but these compounds are nonetheless diamagnetic. In contrast, the Cr-Cr bond is completely severed in 1, and the resulting two isolated Cr(3+) magnetic centers couple antiferromagnetically with J/kB= -108(3) K [-75(2) cm(-1)], as determined by modeling of the temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility. Density functional theory (DFT) and multiconfigurational methods (CASSCF/CASPT2) provide support for "stretched" and weak metal-metal triple bonds in 2, 3, and 4. The metal-metal distances in the metal-oxo compounds 5, 6, and 7 are elongated beyond the single-bond covalent radii of the metal atoms. DFT and CASSCF/CASPT2 calculations suggest that the metal atoms have minimal interaction; the electronic structure of these complexes is used to rationalize their multielectron redox reactivity.