Investigations of Sb-Sb bond formation reactions in the coordination sphere of transition metals

The reaction of SbCl3 with various transition metal metalates of the type K [MLn] [MLn = Ni(CO)Cp*, Fe(CO)Cp', Co(CO)(4); Cp* = eta(5)-C5Me5, Cp' = eta (5)-C5H4Me] in the presence of [Cr(CO)(5)thf] have been studied. With K[Ni( co)Cp*] and K[Fe(CO)(2)Cp'] the trigonal-pyramidal complexes [(mu(3)-Sb){Ni (CO)Cp*}(3)] (1) and [mu(3)-Sb){Fe . (CO)(2)Cp'}(3)] (2), respectively, are obtained. The reaction with K[Co(CO)(4)] leads to the tetrahedral cluster [Co-3(CO)(9)(mu(3)- Sb{Cr(CO)(5)})] (3) and the butterfly cluster [Co-2(CO) (6)(mu-SbCl)(mu-sbCl{(Cr(CO)(5)})] (4). All products are characterised by X -ray crystal structure determination. In contrast to the corresponding [(CO )(5)CrPCl3] system forming P-P bonds, starting from SbC4/[Cr(CO)(5)thf] doe s not cause a Sb-Sb bond formation.