The Organometallic Chemistry of Carbon Suboxide

Abstract

Abstract Carbon suboxide, C3, O2, reacts with a great variety of organometallic compounds. With organo-silicon and aluminium compounds it reacts with the C˭O moiety, giving sililation and carboalumination reactions. Insertion reactions of C˭C are performed with compounds having M-H, M-OR, M-NR2, M-PR2 bonds (M ≠ Si, Al), giving mono-metal derivatives (ketenyl) or di-metal derivatives of acil groups (amides, esthers, phospides). The coordination of C˭O or C˭C to transition metal complexes, the formation of allenic compounds and the decarbonylation reactions allow the synthesis of a series of particular metal derivatives (ketenyl, ketenylidene and carbonyl complexes) which, in some cases, present a peculiar reactivity.