ChemInform Abstract: 'Very Mixed'-Metal Carbonyl Clusters

Publisher Summary The multi-metallic coordination of organic molecules at clusters facilitates substrate transformations not readily achievable at mononuclear complexes. The aggregation of metal atoms within a metal cluster core can afford molecules with a large number of accessible oxidation states which may have the potential to function as electron reservoirs. A significant number of mixed-metal clusters contain metals from the same group or adjacent groups, but far fewer mixed-metal clusters incorporating disparate metals have been reported. The presence of differing metals introduces the possibility of metallo-selectivity into ligand substitution. This selectivity should be enhanced upon accentuating the disparity between the metals. The introduction of differing metals into a cluster core also reduces the effective symmetry over that of related homo-metallic clusters, rendering coordination sites for incoming ligands inequivalent and affording the prospect of site- as well as metallo-selectivity.