The Simplest Binary Fluorocarbon as a Ligand. Synthetic, Spectroscopic, Crystallographic, and Computational Studies of a Molybdenum Complex of Terminally Ligated Carbon Monofluoride (Fluoromethylidyne)

Cp*Mo(CO)3CF3 undergoes two-electron reduction using potassium graphite or magnesium graphite to give Cp*Mo(CO)2(CF), the first example of a transition metal complex containing a terminal fluoromethylidyne ligand, which has been characterized spectroscopically, crystallographically, and computationally.