A new family of dimolybdenum compounds with cyanide and phosphine ligands

Reaction of Mo2Cl4(dppm)2 with excess [n-Bu4N][CN] produces [Bu4N]2[Mo2II,II(CN)6(dppm)2]·2(CH3CN)·2(C6H6) (1) the first example of an edge-sharing bioctahedral compound of Mo(II), that upon exposure to air oxidizes to the mixed valence analog [Bu4N][Mo2II,III(CN)6(dppm)2]·2(H2O)·2(CH3CN) (2).