THEORETICAL INVESTIGATION OF ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE AND BONDING IN MOLYBDENUM FACE-BRIDGED OCTAHEDRAL CLUSTERS WITH Π-DONOR LIGANDS

Extended Hückel Molecular Orbital (EHMO) calculations were carried out on octahedral transition metal clusters with general formula [M6X8iY6a] (M = Molybdenum; X and Y = π-Donor Ligands) in order to rationalize their electronic structure. In these species the optimal metallic electron (ME) count is of 24 but for many clusters experimentally synthesized, the ME count can vary from 20 to 48 without dramatically altering the architecture of the octahedral cluster. Herein are reported the geometrical parameters and electronic properties, of a series of clusters with 20 to 24 valence electrons per cluster. The calculated characteristics for all the considered structures are in excellent agreement with the experimental ones and requires to learn more about the relationships that exist between their structural arrangement and electronic properties especially the number of electrons available for metal-metal bonding in M6 octahedral clusters.