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The first neutral and cationic Mo imido alkylidene cyclic alkyl amino carbene (CAAC) complexes of the general formulae [Mo(N-Ar)(CHCMe 2 Ph)(X) 2 (CAAC)] and [Mo(N-Ar)(CHCMe 2 Ph)(X)(CAAC)][B(Ar F ) 4 ] (X=Br, Cl, OTf, OC 6 F 5 ; CAAC=1-(2,6-iPr 2 -C 6 H 3 )-3,3,5,5-tetramethyltetrahydropyrrol-2-ylidene) have been synthesized from molybdenum imido bishalide alkylidene DME precursors. Different combinations of the imido and "X" ligands have been employed to understand synthetic peculiarities. Selected complexes have been characterized by single-crystal X-ray analysis. Due to the pronounced σ-donor/π-acceptor characteristics of CAACs, the corresponding neutral and cationic molybdenum imido alkylidene CAAC complexes do not require the presence of stabilizing donor ligands such as nitriles. Calculations on the PBE0-D3BJ/def2-TZVP level for PBE0-D3BJ/def2-SVP optimized geometries revealed partial charges at molybdenum similar to the corresponding molybdenum imido alkylidene N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes with a slightly higher polarization of the molybdenum alkylidene bond in the CAAC complexes. All cationic complexes have been tested in olefin metathesis reactions and showed improved activity compared to the analogous NHC complexes for hydrocarbon-based substrates, allowing for turnover numbers (TONs) up to 9500 even at room temperature. Some Mo imido alkylidene CAAC complexes are tolerant towards functional groups like thioethers and sulfonamides., (© 2023 The Authors. Chemistry - A European Journal published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Cationic d 0 group 6 olefin metathesis catalysts have been recently shown to display in most instances superior activity in comparison to their neutral congeners. Furthermore, their catalytic performance is greatly improved upon immobilization on silica. In this context, we have developed the new family of molecular cationic molybdenum oxo alkylidene complexes stabilized by N-heterocyclic carbenes of the general formula [Mo(O)(CHCMe 3 )(IMes)(OR)[X - ]] (IMes = 1,3-dimesitylimidazol-2-ylidene; R = 1,3-dimesityl-C 6 H 3 , C 6 F 5 ; X - = B(3,5-(CF 3 ) 2 C 6 H 3 ) 4 - , B(Ar F ) 4 , tetrakis(perfluoro- t -butoxy)aluminate (PFTA)). Immobilization of [Mo(O)(CHCMe 3 )(IMes)(O-1,3-dimesityl-C 6 H 3 ) + B(Ar F ) 4 - ] on silica via surface organometallic chemistry yields an active alkene metathesis catalyst that shows the highest productivity towards terminal olefins amongst all existing molybdenum oxo alkylidene catalysts., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Molecularly defined and classical heterogeneous Mo-based metathesis catalysts are shown to display distinct and unexpected reactivity patterns for the metathesis of long-chain α-olefins at low temperatures (<100 °C). Catalysts based on supported Mo oxo species, whether prepared via wet impregnation or surface organometallic chemistry (SOMC), exhibit strong activity dependencies on the α-olefin chain length, with slower reaction rates for longer substrate chain lengths. In contrast, molecular and supported Mo alkylidenes are highly active and do not display such dramatic dependence on the chain length. State-of-the-art two-dimensional (2D) solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy analyses of postmetathesis catalysts, complemented by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and molecular dynamics calculations, evidence that the activity decrease observed for supported Mo oxo catalysts relates to the strong adsorption of internal olefin metathesis products because of interactions with surface Si-OH groups. Overall, this study shows that in addition to the nature and the number of active sites, the metathesis rates and the overall catalytic performance depend on product desorption, even in the liquid phase with nonpolar substrates. This study further highlights the role of the support and active site composition and dynamics on activity as well as the need for considering adsorption in catalyst design., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2022 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Despite their excellent selectivities and activities, Mo-and W-based catalysts for olefin metathesis have not gained the same widespread use as Ru-based systems, mainly due to their inherent air sensitivity. Herein, we describe the synthesis of air-stable cationic-at-metal molybdenum and tungsten imido alkylidene NHC nitrile complexes. They catalyze olefin metathesis reactions of substrates containing functional groups such as (thio-) esters, (thio-) ethers and alcohols without the need for prior activation, for example, by a Lewis acid. The presence of a nitrile ligand was found to be essential for their stability towards air, while no decrease in activity and productivity could be observed upon coordination of a nitrile. Variations of the imido and anionic ligand revealed that alkoxide complexes with electron-withdrawing imido ligands offer the highest reactivities and excellent stability compared to analogous triflate and halide complexes., (© 2020 The Authors. Angewandte Chemie International Edition published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The first reversible N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) induced α-H abstraction in tungsten(VI) imido-dialkyl dialkoxide complexes is reported. Treatment of W(NAr)(CH 2 Ph) 2 (OtBu) 2 (Ar=2,6-dichlorophenyl, 2,6-dimethylphenyl, 2,6-diisopropylphenyl) with different NHCs leads to the formation of complexes of the type W(NAr)(CHPh)(NHC)(CH 2 Ph)(OtBu) in excellent isolated yields of up to 96 %. The highly unusual release of the tert-butoxide ligand as tBuOH in the course of the reaction was observed. The formed alkylidene complexes and tBuOH are in an equilibrium with the NHC and the dialkyl complexes. Reaction kinetics were monitored by 1 H NMR spectroscopy. A correlation between the steric and electronic properties of the NHC and the reaction rates was observed. Kinetics of a deuterium-labeled complex in comparison to its non-deuterated counterpart revealed the presence of a strong primary kinetic isotope effect (KIE) of 4.2, indicating that α-H abstraction is the rate-determining step (RDS) of the reaction., (© 2020 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.)

Both solvent-free and acetonitrile-containing cationic molybdenum imido alkylidene N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes of the general formula [Mo(NR')(CHCMe 2 R)(NHC)(X) + A - ] (R' = 2,6-Cl 2 -C 6 H 3 , tBu, 2-CF 3 -C 6 H 4 , 2-tBu-C 6 H 4 , 2,6-iPr 2 -C 6 H 3 , 2,6-Me 2 -C 6 H 3 ; R = Me, Ph; NHC = 1,3-dimesitylimidazol-2-ylidene (IMes), 1,3-di-iPr-imidazol-2-ylidene (IPr), 1,3,5-triphenyl-1,3,4-triazol-2-ylidene); X = CF 3 SO 3 , C 6 F 5 O, OCH(CF 3 ) 2 , OC(CF 3 ) 3 , pyrrolide, C 6 F 5 COO, 2,6-(CF 3 ) 2 -C 6 H 3 COO; A - = B(Ar F ) 4 - , Al(OC(CF 3 ) 3 ) 4 - ), have been investigated for their propensity to cyclopolymerize 4,4-disubstituted 1,6-heptadiynes. All metal complexes contain a stereogenic (chiral) metal center, which accounts for the high reactivity and high regioselectivity of insertion (>99%) that are observed for all metal complexes, leading to highly conjugated, α-insertion-derived polyenes that are based on a highly regular polymer backbone and that show absorption maxima close to 600 nm. With the chiral monomer 4-(ethoxycarbonyl)-4-(1S,2R,5S)-(-)-menthoxycarbonyl-1,6-heptadiyne, high syndiospecifity (>99% syndiotactic) is observed. A mechanism explaining the high regio- and stereoselectivity is presented. Thus, α-addition of the monomers proceeds chain-end-controlled trans to the NHC and is preferred over β-addition through intramolecular Mo-O chelation. Insertion of the monomers entails double inversion at the stereogenic metal center in the course of one complete monomer insertion., (© 2019 The Authors. Published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)