The synthesis, spectroscopic, and structural characterization of the (Me
2Pipdt)Mo(CO)
4 complex (Me
2Pipdt =
N,
N'-piperazine-2,3-dithione) are presented in this paper. The title complex crystallizes in the
P2
1/
n space group with
a= 25.541(3) Å,
b = 10.3936(14) Å,
c = 10.9012(12) Å,
= 92.261(9)
,
V =
2891.6(6) Å
3, and
Z = 8. Gas- andsolution-phase structural and electronic features of (Me
2Pipdt)Mo(CO)
4 and Me
2Pipdt have been investigated usingdensity functional theory. The molecular structure underscores the flexibility of the NC(S)C(S)N fragment in boththe free ligand and the metal complex. On the basis of structural, spectroscopic, and theoretical results, the bidentateligand in (Me
2Pipdt)Mo(CO)
4 is considered to be in the dithione, not dithiolate, form. Time-dependent density functionaltheory has been used for the investigation of the excited states and solvatochromic properties of (Me
2Pipdt)Mo(CO)
4. The calculated vertical excitation energies in solution are consistent with the experimental data, showingthat the metal-to-ligand charge-transfer transitions, in both the visible and UV regions, dominate over the ligand-based
-
* transitions.