Tantalum hydrides trihydrides

The trihydride structure of MCp 2H3 is unique to niobium and tantalum. The bent-metallocene fragment of these metals appears to be ideal for accommodating three hydrides because of the favorable oxidation state of +5 and perhaps because the void created at the equatorial girdle has the right size for three hydrides. The compounds can be easily handled and yet show interesting reactivity. The trihydrides continue to serve as important starting compounds for a wealth of chemistry. Scheme 7.12 shows their transformation to some useful precursors and to heterometallic clusters [56b,57,58]. 

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