The reaction of C
60 with Re
3(
-H)
3(CO)
11(NCMe) in refluxing chlorobenzene producesRe
3(
-H)
3(CO)
9(
3-
2,
2,
2-C
60) (
1) in 50% yield. Initial decarbonylation of
1 with Me
3NO/MeCN followed by reaction with PPh
3 in boiling chlorobenzene affords Re
3(
-H)
3(CO)
8(PPh
3)(
3-
2,
2,
2-C
60) (
2) in a low yield (26%). Treatment of
1 with PhCH
2N=PPh
3 at roomtemperature gives a benzyl isocyanide substituted product Re
3(
-H)
3(CO)
8(CNCH
2Ph)(
3-
2,
2,
2-C
60) (
3) in 53% yield. Compounds
1,
2,
and 3 have been isolated as crystalline solids
and characterized by spectroscopic (infrared, mass,
1H,
31P,
and 13C NMR)
and analyticaldata. The structure of
3 has been determined by a single-crystal X-ray diffraction study.The C
60 lig
and is coordinated to the trirhenium triangle in a
3-
2,
2,
2 bonding mode,
andthe benzyl isocyanide lig
and occupies an axial position of a rhenium atom. Electrochemicalproperties of
1 and 2 have been studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV) in chlorobenzene (CB)solutions. The general features of CV curves have revealed four reversible redox couples for
1 and 2 in the CB potential window. The CV results suggest that a C
60-mediated electrontransfer to the trirhenium center takes place in
12- species for
1 and 23- for
2.