Di- and trinuclear sandwich complexes of a cross-conjugated fulvene

We report di- and trinuclear palladium sandwich complexes of cross-pi-conjugated fulvenes. Structural and theoretical analysis revealed that a fulvene sandwich framework holds a metal-metal bonded moiety, where the dinuclear and trinuclear bonds feature strong donation and back-donation, respectively. The trinuclear fulvene sandwich complex undergoes a unique reversible extrusion of a Pd atom from inside to outside the sandwich framework.

Automated summary

We report on di- and trinuclear palladium sandwich complexes of cross-pi-conjugated fulvenes. Structural and theoretical analysis demonstrated that the fulvene sandwich framework possesses a metal-metal bonded moiety, with strong donation and back-donation observed in the dinuclear and trinuclear bonds, respectively. The trinuclear fulvene sandwich complex exhibits a unique reversible extrusion of a Pd atom from inside to outside the sandwich framework.