A facile reaction of bibenzyl trisulfide with [(η5-C5H5)Cr(CO)3]2: formation of a thiolato-bridged dichromium complex of [CpCr(CO)2(SBz)]2 (Bz = PhCH2–)

The reaction of [CpCr(CO)3]2 (Cp = η5-C5H5) (1) with an equivalent of Bz2S3 at ambient temperature gave [CpCr(CO)2]2S (3) [L.Y. Goh, T.W. Hambley, G.B. Robertson, Organometallics 6 (1987) 1051], novel complexes of [CpCr(CO)2(SBz)]2 (4) and together with [CpCr(SBz)]2S (5) as main products. Thermolytic studies showed that 4 underwent complete decarbonylation to give [CpCr(SBz)]2S (5). Final thermal decomposition of 3 and 5 eventually yielded Cp4Cr4S4 (6) (Goh et al., 1987) after prolonged reaction at 100 °C. However, the reaction of [CpCr(CO)2]2 (Crtriple bond; length of mdashCr) (2) with Bz2S3 was much slower at ambient temperature which required 72 h to complete eventually yielding 3 and 5. All the products have been characterized by elemental and spectral analyses. 4 has been structurally determined.