The elusive halides VCl5, MoCl6, and ReCl6

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2013 Jan 7;52(2):767-9. doi: 10.1002/anie.201207552. Epub 2012 Nov 22.

Abstract

Vanadium pentachloride and molybdenum and rhenium hexachloride are all thermally unstable but can be prepared by metathesis from the corresponding fluorides with BCl(3) at low temperatures. MoCl(6) is structurally related to β-WCl(6), and ReCl(6) to α-WCl(6). VCl(5) is a dimer in the solid state (V red, Cl green).