FIRST CONVENTIONAL SYNTHESES AND ISOLATION OF BIS(NAPHTHALENE)METAL(0) COMPLEXES - STRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION OF V(ETA(6)-C10H8)(2)

Reactions of alkali-metal naphthalenides with VCl3(THF)(3), CrCl3(THF) (3), MoCl3(THF)(3), and MoCl4(THF)(2) in THF provided up to 29%, 24%, 20%, and 17% yields of the respective bis(naphthalene)metal(0) complex es. These highly reactive ''naked'' early-transition-metal atom reagen ts were accessible previously as pure substances only from metal atom reactions carried out in specialized apparatus available to few chemis ts. The nature of bis(naphthalene)vanadium(0) has been confirmed by a single-crystal X-ray structural characterization. These results provid e another indication that the arene radical anion route is an importan t general strategy for the synthesis of homoleptic transition-metal ar ene complexes.