Reactivity of the cyanometalate Na(Cp'Mn(CO)2CN) with titanium, zirconium, andhafnium halides: crystal and molecular structure of the micro-cyano micro-oxo tetranuclear complex (Cp2Zr((micro-NC)MnCp'(CO)2))2(micro-O) (Cp = eta-C5H5; Cp'= eta-MeC5H4)

Cyanide-substituted anionic complexes such as Na(Cp'Mn-(CO)2CN), where Cp' is eta-MeC5H4, never have a metal-centered HOMO, unlike many other carbonylmetalates of the transition metals. These complexes possess nitrogen-based orbitals which prefer coordination to metal centers by a cyanide moiety, resulting in the generation of the Mn-CN-M' chain systems. The coordination through the CN in the terminal and bridging modes is effected by the cyanometalate ligand (Cp' Mn(CO)2CN)-.