Homoleptic carbonyls binary metal

Binary metal carbonyls These compounds, also called homoleptic carbonyls, have the general formula M(CO)n. 

In the mid-1960s, Dessy and coworkers [12, 13] provided an extensive survey of the anodic and cathodic reactions of transition metal organometallic species, including binary (homoleptic) carbonyls, and this provided a stimulus for many later detailed studies. Whereas the electrochemistry of heteroleptic transition metal carbonyls is covered elsewhere in this volume, that of the binary carbonyls, which is covered here, provides paradigms for the electrochemistry of their substituted counterparts. A key aspect is the generation of reactive 17-electron or 19-electron intermediates that can play key roles in the electrocatalytic processes and electron-transfer catalysis of CO substitution by other ligands. 

The interests in homoleptic (see Homoleptic Compound) isocyanide ( isonitrile, see Isocyanide Ligands) complexes of transition metals have largely been associated with their similarities to metal carbonyls. The greater versatility of isocyanide ligands in comparison to CO makes isocyanide complexes potentially valuable reagents in synthetic chemistry and catalysis. The dication [V(CNBu )6] reported in 1980 remained the sole example of a homoleptic group 5 metal isocyanide until 1999, when the first binary... 

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