CLUSTERS CONTAINING CARBENE LIGANDS - NOVEL EXAMPLE OF CARBENE LIGAND TRANSFER FROM A METAL ATOM TO A CARBON-ATOM

The reaction of the new carbene-containing cluster complex Os3(CO)11(C(Et)NMe2] (2) with PhC≡CH has yielded the complex Os3(CO)9[μ3-PhC2{C(Et)-(NMe2)}](μ-H) (3, 35%), which contains a triply bridging alkyne ligand with phenyl and ethyl(dimethyliminio)methyl substituents. The product is believed to have been formed by the transfer of the C(Et)NMe2 carbene ligand in 2 to the α-carbon atom of a bridging PhC≡C ligand in an intermediate formed by the activation of PhC≡CH by the cluster. © 1990, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.