Vanadium hexacarbonyl readily disproportionates upon treatment with oxygen and nitrogen Lewis bases. The reaction is first order with respect to Lewis base and V(CO)6. Nucleophilic attack on the metal center appears to be the rate-determining step. Second-order rate constants in dichloromethane decrease in the series py>Et3N>MeCN>MeOH>acetone>THF>2,5-Me2THF>DME>MeNO2>EhO, with a factor of 104 separating the first and last members of this group. Activation parameters for disproportionation by THF are in accord with an associative mechanism: △H*=14.2±1.2 kcal/mol and △S*=-21.5±4.2 cal/mol.deg. The structure of the disproportionation product is also dependent on the nature of the Lewis base. For Et20, the bridging isocarbonyl complex [V(Et20)4] [O-C-V(CO)5]2 can be isolated from CH2C12-Et20 solution. For stronger oxygen and nitrogen bases (B), [V(B)6] [V(CO)6]2 is the final product. In the case of B = pyridine, a bridging isocarbonyl intermediate can be detected as a kinetic product of the disproportionation process. This intermediate reacts with additional pyridine to afford [V(B)6] [V(CO)6]2. The observation of an isocarbonyl-bridged intermediate suggests that electron transfer may take place through an isocarbonyl ligand. Phosphine-substituted derivatives of V(CO)6 undergo disproportionation much more slowly than V(CO)6, although the rate-limiting step also appears to be CO substitution by the Lewis base. For example, disproportionation of V(CO)5P(n-Bu)3 induced by CH3CN is five orders of magnitude slower than that of V(CO)6.