Inorganic Chemistry, Vol.37, No.22, 5710-5720, 1998
Highlights from recent work on metal-metal bonds
The study of transition metal compounds with metal-metal (M-M) bends of various orders (from 1/2 to 4) began in a coherent and productive way in 1964 with the recognition that a strong quadruple bond exists between the metal atoms in the Re2Cl82-ion. For nearly 20 years the field grew exponentially, before settling back to a steady level of activity. While it is now a fairly mature field, it continues to provide scope, challenges, and new results that are often surprising. In this review I shall summarize a few new results, primarily from work in my own laboratory. The selection is somewhat arbitrary; there are other topics of comparable interest, but space is limited. To economize on space, references that may be found in Multiple Bonds between Metal Atoms, 2nd ed., by F. A. Cotton and R. A. Walton, will not be given here.
Keywords:SHARING BIOCTAHEDRAL COMPLEXES;TA-TA BOND;W2CL4(NR2)(2)(PR'(3))(2) MOLECULES;STRUCTURALCHARACTERIZATION;W2CL4(NR(2))(2)(PR'(3))(2) MOLECULES;ELECTRONIC-PROPERTIES;PHOSPHINE COMPLEXES;CRYSTAL-STRUCTURES;BRIDGING LIGANDS;INTERNAL FLIP