Carbonyl clusters cluster expansion

Anionic clusters are good nucleophiles (see Section III,A) and are often easy to make. On the other hand, the electrophilic nature of most monometallic complexes is obvious from ligand substitutions. The combination of these properties makes a strategy for cluster expansion. This strategy was used for the first time by Hieber (130) in making Fe4(CO)fc from Fe3(CO),7 and Fe(CO)s. It is probably active in many syntheses of large metal carbonyl clusters because the Re, Os, Rh, Ir, Ni, and Pt clusters involved are almost always anionic. However, simple stoichiometries can rarely be written for such reactions (122). This route makes mixed metal clusters accessible, e.g.,... 

Attempts to construct metallaboranes via cluster expansion reactions with metal carbonyl complexes sometimes result in unexpected products. For example, reaction of B3H7(Cp RuH)2 and Mo(CO)3(CH3CN)3 results in B2H6(Cp RuCO)2 without any incorporation... 

As indicated in Scheme 11, there are basically two classes of chemistry that have been observed for [Os CO) ]2-. One involves expansion of the ligand coordination sphere, without changing the stereochemistry of the metal cluster, and is electronically related to the parent carbonyl Os5(CO)18, while the second involves redox reactions, with addition of two electrons to the metal cluster and concomitant structural changes in the metal polyhedra (204). 

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