A more auspicious result was obtained with the tripodal alcohol derivative 10, which had originally been designed to bolster the activity of tungsten alkylidyne catalysts 7. Though hardly more encumbered than 9a, addition of 10 to a solution of 1 in C6D6 showed the clean formation of a defined product as judged by H NMR; surprisingly though, ca. 50% of the ligand remained unchanged at the point when the molybdenum complex was fully consumed. Analysis of the crude material by HR-MS indicated that a product of formal composition [C72H93Mo2N3O3] + had formed; 43 this data suggested that 1 had somehow been incorporated into a dimeric species. To confirm this paradoxical result, the experiment was repeated with a 1:2 ratio of the reaction partners in toluene, which allowed the new complex 11 to be isolated in analytically pure form in 77% yield (Scheme 2).