Cyclopentadienyl-carboranyl hybrid compounds: a new class of versatile ligands for organometallic chemistry.

A new class of organic-inorganic hybrid compounds bearing a cyclic pi-ligand, an icosahedral carborane moiety, and a bridging group has been developed. These are very versatile ligands, featuring both an organic and an inorganic moiety as well as a bridging ligand. They can be readily converted into mono-, di-, tri- and pentaanionic species under suitable reaction conditions, leading to the generation of a new class of organometallic compounds in which the carboranyl unit can be cast in the role of a bulky substituent, a sigma-, eta(5), eta(6), or eta(7) pi-ligand. This Account provides an overview of our recent work in this area.