Cluster-stabilized cations: synthesis, structures, molecular dynamics and reactivity

Tetrahedral clusters possessing two or three organometallic vertices, such as Co(CO)3 or CpMo(CO)2, provide enormously enhanced stability to neighboring cationic centers. The factors controlling the interactions between the electron-deficient centers and the metals are discussed in terms of their frontier molecular orbitals. Rational syntheses of these systems are now available, and many such metal-stabilized cations have been isolated and …