Reductive coupling of carbon monoxide in a rhenium carbonyl complex with pendant Lewis acids

Phosphinoborane ligands impart unique reactivity to a rhenium carbonyl cation relative to simple phosphine complexes. Addition of either triethylborohydride or a platinum hydride (that can be formed from H2) forms a rhenium boroxycarbene. This carbene, which crystallizes as a dimer, disproportionates over a period of days to afford the starting cation and a structurally unprecedented boroxy(boroxymethyl)carbene, in which a new C-C bond has been formed between two reduced CO ligands. This product of C-C bond formation can be independently synthesized by addition of 2 equiv of hydride to the rhenium carbonyl cation.