Binuclear nitrides

A new class of binuclear nitrido complexes of tetravalent osmium and ruthenium is described in which the metal atoms are symmetrically bridged by a nitride ligand to give a linear M-N—M unit They have the stoichiometries M2NX8(H20)2]3 and [M2N(NH3)8Y2]3+ (M = Os, Ru X = Cl, Br Y = Cl, Br, etc.). Studies are reported on their vibrational spectra, structures, and bonding. Preliminary studies are reported also on trinuclear complexes of osmium and iridium. Finally, the use of vibrational spectroscopy in the study of metal-nitrido and metal-oxo complexes is discussed briefly. 

The expected photoproduct [0s(NHs)4N] is also quite stable and well characterized (60-62). In this context, it should be stressed that the reverse reaction has been observed as photochemical (60,61) and thermal (63,64) process. It is obviously much easier to couple two nitride complexes containing the Os N I moiety to a binuclear N2 complex owing to the extreme stability of the NN triple bond. 

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