Oxo-rhenium(V) complexes with analogs of bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane

ReOCl3(L-L) and ReOCl2(OEt)(L-L) compounds were prepared by reaction of a diphosphine or diarsine with ReOCl3(OPPh3)(Me2S). They adopt the fac-trichloro and the trans-oxo-ethoxo structures, respectively. The UV-visible absorptions corresponding to the two lowest-energy spin-allowed HOMO-LUMO transitions are not greatly displaced compared to the related dppe compounds.