Gas-PhaseSynthesis and Structure of Wade-Type RutheniumCarbonyl and Hydrido Carbonyl Clusters.

Thegas-phase reaction of size-selected Run(n= 4–6) clusters withCO in an ion trap yields only one specific ruthenium carbonyl complexfor each cluster size, Ru4(CO)14, Ru5(CO)16, and Ru6(CO)18. First-principles density functionaltheory calculations reveal structures for these hitherto unknown carbonylcompounds that are in perfect agreement with the geometries predictedby Wade’s electron counting rules. Furthermore, reactions withD2show that for Ru4橷 Ru6, CO molecules can be partially replaced by D2to form hydrido carbonyl complexes while preserving the totalligand count corresponding to the Wade cluster sizes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]