Complexes containing a naked carbon atom

In the realm of all-carbon ligands in the formation of transition-metal complexes, the naked carbon atom holds a special position. Based on the geometry of metal-carbon interaction, these compounds can be divided into four classes terminal carbide (I), 1,3-dimetallaallene (II), C-metalated carbyne (III), and carbido cluster (IV)  

Complexes containing a metal-terminal carbon triple bond. 

There are two well-characterized examples of a naked carbon atom bound by a triple bond to a metal center (Fig 14.3.8). The molybdenum carbide anion [CMo N(R)Ar 3]- (R = C(CD3)2(CH3), Ar = C6H3Me2-3,5), an isoelectronic analog of NMo N(R)Ar 3, can be prepared in a multistep procedure via deprotonation of the d° methylidyne complex HCMo N(R)Ar 3. The Mo=C distance of 171.3(9) pm is at the low end of the known range for molybdenum-carbon multiple bonds. In the diamagnetic, air-stable terminal ruthenium carbide complex Ru(=C )C12(LL/)(L = L = PCy3, or L = PCy3 and L = l,3-dimesityl-4,5-dihydroimidazol-2-ylidene), the measured Ru-C distance of 165.0(2) pm is consistent with the existence of a very short Ru=C triple bond. 

The carbide-centered polynuclear transition-metal carbonyl clusters exhibit a rich variety of structures. A common feature to this class of carbide complexes is that the naked carbon is wholly or partially enclosed in a metal cage composed of homo/hetero metal atoms, and there is also a subclass that can be considered as tetra-metal-substituted methanes. The earliest known compound of this kind is FesC(CO)i5, in which the carbon atom is located at the center 

Molecular structures of some transition-metal clusters containing a naked carbon atom. 

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