Expanding Icosahedral Frameworks: Structure and Bonding of Bicapped Icosahedral Cluster [(Cp*Co)4Fe(CO)B9H11]

Abstract

A bicapped icosahedral cluster, [(Cp*Co)4Fe(CO)B9H11] (Cp* = η5-C5Me5; 1), has been synthesized and structurally characterized. Cluster 1 represents the first closo-metallaborane with bicapped icosahedral geometry that follows capped skeletal electron counting rule. Furthermore, a bicapped square antiprism cluster, [(Cp*Co)3B7H9] (2), has been isolated, which obeys Wade’s skeletal electron pair (SEP) rule.