B-alkylation and arylation of [(η⁵-C<inf>5</inf>Me<inf>5</inf>Mo)<inf>2</inf>B<inf>5</inf>H<inf>9</inf>]: Synthesis and characterization of isomeric [(η⁵-C<inf>5</inf>Me<inf>5</inf>Mo)<inf>2</inf>B<inf>5</inf>H<inf>9-n</inf>R<inf>n</inf>] (When R = n-Bu, n = 2, 1; R = Ph, n = 2, 1)

Reaction of [(η5-C5Me5Mo)2B5H9], 1 with 5-fold excess of n-BuLi at -70°C followed by excess of RI (R = n-Bu or Ph) at room temperature yielded B-R inserted metallaboranes [(η5-C5Me5Mo)2B5H8R] (2: R = n-Bu, 5: R = Ph), [(η5-C5Me5Mo)2B5H7R2] (3, 4: R = n-Bu; 6, 7: R = Ph). Isolated yields of mono-alkyl/arylated species are better than di-alkyl/arylated ones. All the new cluster compounds have been characterized by IR, 1H, 11B, 13C NMR and mass spectroscopy as simple substitution derivatives of [(η5-C5Me5Mo)2B5H9] and the structural types of one of these species, 2 was established by X-ray crystallographic analysis. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009.