The oxidative elimination reactions of (5-X-phen)Mo(C0)₄ (X = H, CH₃, Cl, NO₂; phen = o-phenanthroline) and (3,4,7,8-(CH₃)₄-phen)Mo(CO)₄ with mercuric chloride in acetone have been investigated. In these reactions, a carbon monoxide group is replaced by two univalent ligands, accompanied by the corresponding increase in coordination number and formal oxidation state of the central metal atom, to give products of the type, (X-phen)Mo(CO)₃(Cl)HgCl. With the exception of (3,4,7,8-(CH₃)₄-phen), the substituted o-phenanthrolines were selected so as to minimize steric differences from one substrate to another while obtaining the widest range of pKₐ of the ligand.

A series of oxovanadium(IV) complexes of Schiff bases derived from substituted salicylaldehyde and aminoalcohols has been prepared and characterized. The Schiff bases coordinate through 0, N, and 0 as tridentate bivalent ligands. The primary purpose of the investigation is to describe the structure and bonding in these complexes. The subnormal magnetic properties of the complexes provide much information about both the structure and the bonding in the complexes.