EPR study of the low-spin [d(3); S =(1)/(2)], Jahn-Teller-active, dinitrogen complex of a molybdenum trisamidoamine

Abstract

The first EPR study of the trisamidoamine complex, [Mo]N₂, where [Mo] = [Mo(III)[HIPTN₃N]^3- = [3,5-(2,4,6-i-Pr₃-C₆H₂)₂C₆H₃NCH₂CH₂]₃N^3-], reveals that this low-spin (S = ½) [d³] complex exhibits a ²E state that undergoes a pseudo Jahn-Teller distortion in the adiabatic limit, modified by interactions with the solvent, and gives approximate values of interaction energies. The experiments establish that [Mo]N₂ exhibits the low-spin [e³] electronic configuration, not [a²e¹], with the a(z²) antibonding orbital substantially higher in energy than the e[xz, yz] orbitals.