A chelate-amidozirconium fragment as building block for unsupported trinuclear ZrM2 heterobimetallic complexes (M = Fe, Ru, Co)

<p>Exclusive mono-insertion into one of the polar metal–metal bonds is an apt description of the reaction of thermally stable ZrFe2 and ZrRu2 complexes 1 with methyl isocyanide [Eq. (a); M = Fe, Ru]. Thus surprisingly, the second of the two polar ZrM bonds in 1 as well as the distorted tetrahedral coordination geometry of the Zr atom remain intact. The low degree of steric congestion in 1 is manifest in a rapid rotation about the ZrM bonds that cannot be frozen out even on cooling to 180 K.</p>