Metal-carbonyl clusters reactions

The reaction between a trinuclear metal carbonyl cluster and trimetbyl amine borane has been investigated (41) and here the cluster anion functions as a Lewis base toward the boron atom, forming a B—O covalent bond (see Carbonyls). Molecular orbital calculations, supported by stmctural characterization, show that coordination of the amine borane causes small changes in the trinuclear framework. 

The main synthetic route to high nuclearity metal carbonyl clusters involves a condensation process (/) a reaction induced by coordinatively unsaturated species or (2) a reaction between coordinatively saturated species in different oxidation states. As an example of (/), Os2(CO)22 can be condensed to form a series of higher coordinated species (89). 

There are only a few weU-documented examples of catalysis by metal clusters, and not many are to be expected as most metal clusters are fragile and fragment to give metal complexes or aggregate to give metal under reaction conditions (39). However, the metal carbonyl clusters are conceptually important because they form a bridge between catalysts commonly used in solution, ie, transition-metal complexes with single metal atoms, and catalysts commonly used on surfaces, ie, small metal particles or clusters. 

Novel reactions of metal carbonyl cluster compounds, R. D. Adams and 1. T. Horvarth, Prog. Inorg. Chem., 1985, 33,127 (200). 

CO2MC] were obtained by metal exchange liom (he same ruthenium-dicobalt precursor and analogous functionalized (cyclopentadienyl)metal carbonyl Related reactions of the selenido-containing cluster RuCo2(/r rSe)... 

Metal clusters on supports are typically synthesized from organometallic precursors and often from metal carbonyls, as follows (1) The precursor metal cluster may be deposited onto a support surface from solution or (2) a mononuclear metal complex may react with the support to form an adsorbed metal complex that is treated to convert it into an adsorbed metal carbonyl cluster or (3) a mononuclear metal complex precursor may react with the support in a single reaction to form a metal carbonyl cluster bonded to the support. In a subsequent synthesis step, metal carbonyl clusters on a support may be treated to remove the carbonyl ligands, because these occupy bonding positions that limit the catalytic activity. 

Synthesis of metal carbonyl clusters on oxide surfaces (followed by extraction into a solvent and workup) is occasionally a more convenient and efficient method for preparation of a metal carbonyl cluster than conventional solution chemistry. This synthetic strategy offers the green chemistry advantage of minimizing solvent use, as the reaction often occurs in the absence of solvent. 

Application of small metal particles has attracted the attention of the scientists for a long time. As early as in the seventies Turkevich already prepared mono-dispersed gold particles [19], and later, using molecular transition metal carbonyl clusters [20], the importance of small nanoparticles increased considerably. One of the crucial points is whether turnover frequency measured for a given catalytic reaction increases or decreases as the particle size is diminished. 

The reaction with [Mn(CO)5]2 or [Co(CO)4]2 also led to mixed-metal clusters.962,963 Osmium-palladium mixed-metal carbonyl clusters were made using the unsaturated cluster [Os3(CO)io(/r-H)2] and the carbido cluster [Os5(/U5-C)(CO)15].964 970 Treatment of [Os3(CO)10Gu-H)2] with [Pd2(/u-dppm)2Cl2] afforded the novel high-nuclearity osmium-palladium mixed-metal carbonyl clusters [Os5Pd6(CO)13( -CO)5(/u-H)2(/u-dppm)2], [Os5Pd6(CO)13(//-CO)6(/u-dppm)2], and... 

The induction of steric effects by the pore walls was first demonstrated with heterogeneous catalysts, prepared from metal carbonyl clusters such as Rh6(CO)16, Ru3(CO)12, or Ir4(CO)12, which were synthesized in situ after a cation exchange process under CO in the large pores of zeolites such as HY, NaY, or 13X.25,26 The zeolite-entrapped carbonyl clusters are stable towards oxidation-reduction cycles this is in sharp contrast to the behavior of the same clusters supported on non-porous inorganic oxides. At high temperatures these metal carbonyl clusters aggregate to small metal particles, whose size is restricted by the dimensions of the zeolitic framework. Moreover, for a number of reactions, the size of the pores controls the size of the products formed thus a higher selectivity to the lower hydrocarbons has been reported for the Fischer Tropsch reaction. 

The metal carbonyl clusters correspond to situations intermediate between metals and simple mononuclear or binuclear carbonyls. Their existence must be connected either with a delicate thermodynamic balance or with remarkably high activation energies. The last hypothesis is valid for species such as Rh6(CO)j6 which is kineti-cally inert, but in general we are inclined to believe that thermodynamic control is the more significant, especially since reactions, such as that shown in Eq. (1), can be carried out in both directions using mild conditions. 

Taking for instance a metal carbonyl cluster Mm(CO) a disruption enthalpy can be defined (Connor 1977, 1981, Mingos and Wales 1990) according to the following reaction ... 

With more and more clusters becoming available, the synthetic chemistry of clusters turns more to the use of clusters as starting materials. Thus, there is an extensive literature on CO substitutions in metal carbonyl clusters and on the organic chemistry of methinyltricobalt enneacarbonyls. Reactions of this type are dealt with in part in Chapter 2.5. and in detail in Chapter 3. 

Finally, Basset and co-workers (88j) report that impregnation of alumina with metal carbonyl clusters leads to CO reduction through initial H2 formation from CO + OH (or adsorbed water) followed by catalyzed reaction on the surface. Above 250°C, the selectivity of the reaction toward methane formation increases greatly, but so does decomposition of the surface bound clusters. In all cases about half of the carbon monoxide was converted to C02 as would be expected for the production of H2 reducing equivalents. 

Recent work by Ford et al. demonstrates that a variety of metal carbonyl clusters are active catalysts for the water-gas shift under the same reaction conditions used with the ruthenium cluster (104a). In particular, the mixed metal compound H2FeRu3(CO)13 forms a catalyst system much more active than would be expected from the activities of the iron or ruthenium systems alone. The source of the synergetic behavior of the iron/ruthenium mixtures is under investigation. The ruthenium and ruthenium/iron systems are also active when piperidine is used as the base, and in solutions made acidic with H2S04 as well. Whether there are strong mechanistic similarities between the acidic and basic systems remains to be determined. 

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.,... 

Exclusive formation of silylstyrenes 76 is achieved when the reactions of styrene and 4-substituted styrenes with HSiEt3 are catalyzed by Fe3(CO)i2 or Fe2(CO)9100. Other iron-triad metal carbonyl clusters, Ru3(CO)i2 and Os3(CO)i2, are also highly active catalysts, but a trace amount of hydrosilylation product 77 is detected in the Ru-catalyzed reactions and the Os-catalyzed reactions are accompanied by 3-12% of 77 (equation 31)100. Mononuclear iron carbonyl, Fe(CO)5, is found to be inactive in this reaction100. 

High Nuclearity Metal Carbonyl Clusters, 14, 285 Infrared Intensities of Metal Carbonyl Stretching Vibrations, 10, 199 Infrared and Raman Studies of -Complexes, 1, 239 Insertion Reactions of Compounds of Metals and Metalloids, 5, 225 Insertion Reactions of Transition Metal-Carbon Bonded Compounds I. Carbon Monoxide Insertion, 11, 87... 

Molecularly or ionically dispersed metal carbonyl clusters on metal oxides have been prepared in high yields by reaction of metal carbonyl clusters with support surfaces or by syntheses on support surfaces from mononuclear precursors (Gates and Lamb, 1989 Iwasawa, 1993 Ichikawa, 1992 Gates, 1994). Synthesis of supported metal carbonyl clusters has been reviewed recently (Gates, 1995,1998), and only a few examples are included here. 

A simple reaction involves a metal carbonyl cluster and surface OH groups. For example, [Ir4(CO)i2] reacts with OH groups of MgO, giving adsorbed [HIr4(CO)n] + HC03. The adsorbed [HIr4(CO)n] is converted into [Ir6(CO)i5]2 by treatment in CO (Zhao and Gates, 1997). 

Another class of synthesis reaction is deprotonation of a hydrido metal carbonyl cluster on a basic surface. For example, [H4Os4(CO)i2] reacts with MgO or with y-Al203 to give [H3Os4(CO)i2], which is part of a surface ion pair on the support (Budge, Scott, and Gates, 1983). 

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