A reductive recycle strategy for the facile synthesis of molybdenum(VI) alkylidyne catalysts for alkyne metathesis

A convenient synthesis of trisamido molybdenum(VI) alkylidyne complexes has been developed, in which the key step is the addition of a geminal dichloride to a trisamido molybdenum(III) complex in the presence of magnesium to continuously recycle unwanted side product 4, selectively generating the desired alkylidyne complexes in high yield.