SMALL HETEROBORANE CLUSTER SYSTEMS .7. REACTION OF PHOSPHAALKYNE (T)BUCP WITH BIS(ACETONITRILE)DECABORANE(12) - A NEW SYNTHETIC ROUTE TO A LARGE PHOSPHABORANE CLUSTER COMPOUND

The reaction of phosphaalkyne (t)BuCp (1) with bis(acetonitrile)decabo rane(12), B10H12(CH3CN)(2), yielded the nido-eleven vertex phosphabora ne cluster compound nido-(t)Bu(H) C=PB10H13 (2) in which the phosphoru s atom is inserted directly into the polyhedral cage framework. The co mpound was obtained as a slightly air-sensitive, colorless oil in 50.4 % yield. The product was characterized by multinuclear (H-1, B-11, C-1 3 and P-31) and 2D B-11--B-11 COSY NMR, mass spectroscopic and FT-IR d ata. The structural assignment of 2 is consistent with the observed sp ectroscopic data and data previously reported for analogous heterobora ne compounds. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd