High-Resolution X-ray Emission Spectroscopy of Molybdenum Compounds

High-resolution molybdenum K-edge X-ray emission spectroscopy (XES) was used to characterize the Kβ4 and Kβ‘ ‘ valence-to-core transition bands in the oxo-Mo compounds K2MoO4, MoO(S2CNEt2)2, and MoO2(S2CNEt2)2. The Kβ4 and Kβ‘ ‘ emission bands are attributed to transitions to the Mo 1s core hole from molecular orbitals possessing primarily molybdenum 4d and oxygen 2s character, respectively. This communication describes the first assignment of the Kβ‘ ‘ interatomic band in the emission spectra of molybdenum complexes. Additionally, the Kβ4 and Kβ‘ ‘ transitions are shown to be sensitive to the chemical and electronic environment of the metal, suggesting that high-resolution XES might be an effective method for elucidating the nature of the molybdenum centers in biological systems.