One-Pot Synthesis of Mo0 Dinitrogen Complexes Possessing Monodentate and Multidentate Phosphine Ligands

Mo0 dinitrogen complexes bearing electron-rich mono- and bidentate phosphines can be synthesized in good yields from inexpensive and readily accessible MoCl5 via a one-step mild reduction with Mg metal. trans-[(N2)2Mo­(PMePh2)­(PPh­(CH2CH2PPh2)2)] can also be obtained via this strategy. However, in the presence of tri- and tetradentate ligands that are sterically restrictive, the analogous reduction leads to either (η6-arene) formation or [Mo­(multidentate phosphine)m]n oligomer complexes that have no dinitrogen ligands. One such η6-arene complex, where the Mo0 center is ligated by 1,1,1-tris­(diphenylphosphinomethyl)­ethane, was isolated and characterized via X-ray crystallography.