Synthesis and spectroscopic studies of some chromium and molybdenum derivatives of bis-(acetylacetone)ethylenediimine ligand

Interaction of [Cr(CO)6] with bis-(acetylacetone)ethylenediimine Schiff base, H2acacen, under reduced pressure resulted in the formation of [Cr(CO)3(H2acacen)] derivative. The Schiff base acted as a tridentate and coordinated the metal through the nitrogen of the azomethine groups and one hydroxyl group. Reaction of [Mo(CO)6] with H2acacen under sunlight irradiation in presence of air gave the oxo derivative [Mo2O6(H2acacen)2]. The ligand acted as a bidentate and coordinated the metal through the two imine groups. In presence of 2,2′-bipyridine (bpy), the reaction of [Mo(CO)6] with H2acacen gave [Mo2O6(bpy)(H2acacec)]. The structures of the reported complexes were proposed on the basis of spectroscopic studies. The proposed structures were also verified by theoretical calculations based on accurate DFT approximations. Moreover, the relative reactivity was estimated using chemical descriptors analysis.