Towards clustered carbonyl cations [M₃(CO)₁₄]²⁺ (M = Ru, Os): the need for innocent deelectronation

To access the hitherto almost unknown class of clustered transition metal carbonyl cations, the trimetal dodecacarbonyls M₃(CO)₁₂ (M = Ru, Os) were reacted with the oxidant Ag⁺[WCA]^-, but yielded the silver complexes [Ag{M₃(CO)₁₂}₂]⁺[WCA]^- (WCA = [Al(OR^F)₄]^-, [F{Al(OR^F)₃}₂]^-; R^F = -OC(CF₃)₃). Addition of further diiodine I₂ to increase the redox potential led for M = Ru non-specifically to divalent mixed iodo-Ru^II-carbonyl cations. With [NO]⁺, even the N-O bond was cleaved and led to the butterfly carbonyl complex cation [Ru₄N(CO)₁₃]⁺ in low yield. Obviously, ionization of M₃(CO)₁₂ with retention of its pseudo-binary composition including only M and CO is difficult and the inorganic reagents did react non-innocently. Yet, the radical cation of the commercially available perhalogenated anthracene derivative 9,10-dichlorooctafluoroanthracene (anthracene^Hal) is a straightforward accessible innocent deelectronator with a half-wave potential E _1/2 of 1.42 V vs. Fc^0/+. It deelectronates M₃(CO)₁₂ under a CO atmosphere and leads to the structurally characterized cluster salts [M₃(CO)₁₄]²⁺([WCA]^-)₂ including a linear M₃ chain. The structural characterization as well as vibrational and NMR spectroscopies indicate the presence of three electronically independent sets of carbonyl ligands, which almost mimic M(CO)₅, free CO and even [M(CO)₆]²⁺ in one and the same cation.