Trimethylamine-N-oxide induced disproportionation of Re2(CO)10: Synthesis and X-ray crystal structure of [fac-Re(CO)3(ONMe3)3] [ReO4]

An attempted synthesis of Re(CO₃) (-OH)]₄,1, by reacting Re₂(CO)₁₀ with an excess of NMe₃O in THF resulted instead in isolation of a disproportionation product, fac-Re(CO)₃(ONMe₃)₃]ReO₄],2. The structure of2 was determined via X-ray crystallography: tri-clinic,P1^¯,a=9.499(5),b=9.841(2),c=13.448(2)Å,=109.92(2),=106.89(3), =93.15(4)°,D _calc=2.22 g^–3 andZ=2. Least-squares refinement based on 1606 observed (I>3(I)) reflections gave final values ofR=0.040 andR _w=0.047. The cation is a distorted octahedron that exhibits several structural manifestations of steric crowding among the bulky NMe₃O ligands.