Ligand chemistry, isocyanides

Small-molecule isocyanides possess a ligand chemistry which is only slightly less well-developed (5). 

Other cyanide complexes arc discussed under the appropriate metals. In organic chemistry, both nitriles R-CK and isonitriles (isocyanidcs) R-NC are known. Isocyanides have been extensively studied as ligands (p. 926). More... 

The field of transition metal complexes of isocyanides developed slowly over more than a century to a respectable subarea in coordination chemistry, and in the process seems to have attracted very little attention. Even the remarkable resurgence of transition metal organometallic chemistry in the last 20 years, and the realization that isocyanides and carbon monoxide should be quite similar as ligand groups in organometallic complexes, did not initiate an extensive development of this area of chemistry. Only in the last several years has this potentially important subject begun to receive the attention it would seem to deserve. 

Cavell KJ, McGuinness DS (2007) Palladium complexes with carbonyl, isocyanide and carbene ligands. In Crabtree RH, Mingos DMP, Canty AJ (eds) Comprehensive organometallic chemistry 111. Elsevier, Amsterdam... 

Dixon, K. R. Dixon, A. C. Palladium Complexes with Carbonyl, Isocyanide and Carbene Ligands, In Comprehensive Organometallic Chemistry II A review of the literature 1982-1994 Puddephatt, R. J. Ed., Elsevier, 1995, Vol. 9, p 193. 

Organic isocyanides (C=N-R) are versatile ligands in transition metal complex chemistry. As compared with their pseudo-isoelectronic cousin, C=0, they are stronger o-donors [1], As a result, isocyanides form more stable complexes with metals in relatively high oxidation states (e.g., +2 and +3) than CO. In contrast, they have a lower ir-accepting ability than CO and therefore form less stable complexes with metals in low oxidation states (e.g., -1 and -2). Nevertheless, they form a broad range of metal complexes, and various aspects of their syntheses, structures and bonding have been reviewed [1-7]. 

The chemistry of rhenium(I) is dominated by organometallic compounds which are not covered by this review. Thus, cyclopentadienyl and related compounds, where the organometallic part of the molecule dominate the properties will generally not be considered. Nevertheless, compounds with carbonyl or isocyanide co-ligands will be treated when they can be regarded as constituents of a typical coordination compound or the compounds are of fundamental interest in a radiopharmaceutical context such as the hexakis(isocyanide)rhenium(I) cations. For the same reason a separate section has been included which gives a brief summary of recent attempts to develop synthetic routes to tiicarbonylrhenium(I) complexes for nuclear medical applications. 

Rhenium(0) compounds are rare and frequently lie in the realm of the organometallic chemistry. A simple example is decacarbonyldirhenium(0) in which two staggered, square-pyramidal Re(CO)5 fragments are held together by a single rhenium-rhenium bond. Substitution of carbonyl ligands is possible by tertiary phosphines and arsines, silanes and isocyanides, and binuclear Re-Re, Mn-Re, and Co-Re complexes have been studied. " Successive replacement of CO ligands can readily be observed by vibrational spectroscopy. This has been demonstrated... 

The extensive organometallic chemistry of chromium, i.e. the hexacarbonyl and its derivatives, organochromium compounds without carbonyl ligands, cyanide and isocyanide complexes, alkene, allyl, diene, cyclopentadiene and arene derivatives, and complexes of a-donor carbon ligands, has been recorded in Chapters 26.1 and 26.2 of Volume 3 of Comprehensive Organometallic Chemistry .1 In the present section, chromium complexes... 

Some interesting chemistry has appeared relating to the ability of the isocyanide ligand to stabilize unusual oxidation states. A series of palladium metal - metal bonded complexes has been synthesized by redox reactions involving two metal complexes in different formal oxidation states (33 -35). Similar ruthenium(I) and osmium(I) dimers have been prepared by an unusual homolytic fission of a ruthenium-carbon bond (36) or by singleelectron oxidation of Os(CNXylyl)5 (18). 

This catalytic labilization of carbonyl groups has been extended to the replacement of carbonyls in metal carbonyl clusters. Metal cluster complexes are at present the subject of extensive studies, partly because of their possible relevance as models for chemisorbed metal surfaces and because of their catalytic activity. The majority of these clusters contain carbonyl ligands, and these have been prepared from the vast number of metal carbonyl precursors generally available by a variety of synthetic methods usually without recourse to designed or rational procedures. In metal isocyanide chemistry, however, suitable precursors are lacking, and as a consequence, there are few routes to homoleptic metal-isocyanide clusters, and few isocyanide clusters are known (see Section IV,A). 

A strictly related example of multiple bond metathesis chemistry between C02 and isocyanides proceeds from the binuclear complex Ni2( x-CNMe)(CNMe)2(dppm)2 (dppm = l,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)methane) which contains a reactive g-MeNC ligand [111d—f]. This species, in the presence of liquid C02 (298 K, 10-15MPa, >48h), was converted into Ni2( X-CO)(CO)2(dppm)2 and polymeric... 

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