Osmium carbonyl cluster anions, structures

Although less fully documented than osmium cluster chemistry, rhenium cluster chemistry has been subjected to many structural studies, including those on approximately 20 neutral or anionic carbonyls, particularly carbonyl hydrides [Rev(CO). H ] of nuclearities x = 2 to 6 (Fig. 7). In addition, some ten or more rhenium carbonyl carbides [Rev(CO)vH C] have been shown to contain a core carbon atom, usually occupying a central octahedral site. These systems offer scope not only to explore for rhenium the trends we have already shown for osmium, but also to study the effect on metal-metal distances (and so enthalpies) of such core carbon atoms, which formally donate all four of their valence shell electrons to the cluster bonding. To our knowledge only one rhenium carbonyl cluster compound, Re2(CO)io, has been subjected to calorimetric study to determine its enthalpy of formation. ... 

A series of carbonyl-substituted osmium clusters of general formula Os6(CO)2i-. Lv (L = P(OMe)3, X = 1-6 L = MeCN, x = 1-3) is also structurally related to [Fe3Pt3(CO)i5] and features six extra cluster-valence electrons. As predicted theoretically,these raft-like osmium clusters have a similar capacity to add two more electrons reversibly. The electro-generated anions are stable on the cyclovoltammetry time-scale. 

The structures of anionic, triple-nuclear osmium and iron cluster catalysts supported on copolymers of styrene and divinylbenzene were analyzed by means of IR spectroscopy. Their catalytic activity during 1-hexene hydroformylation [250] and C5H5NO2 carbonylation [251] were investigated. It was found that isomerization proceeds simultaneously in the presence conventional catalysts. In the absence of moisture, a triple-nuclear osmium complex could be removed from a polymeric support after reaction. This suggests catalytic activity for this complex, particularly in the fixed state. Furthermore, a definite correlation was found to exist between polynuclearity and selectivity of heptanol formation. For iron, however, the cluster structure altered during the course of the reaction. 

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