New insights into the reaction of nickelocene with methyllithium: the isolation and crystal structure of (NiCp)3(μ3-CH)

Thermolysis of the cyclopentadienylnickelmethyl complex [NiCp(CH3)(η2-CH2 = CHC4H9)] in arious solvents led to the formation of a mixture of several cyclopentadienylnickel clusters. Separation of products by means of column chromatography allowed to isolate and crystallographically characterise (μ3-methylidyne)tris(cyclopentadienylnickel) cluster (NiCp)3(μ3-CH), the first homolog in the family of alkylidyne tri(cyclopentadienylnickel) clusters.