The reactions of either bis(
-chloro)tetracarbonyldirhodium(I), [Rh(CO)
2(
-Cl)]
2, or chlorotricarbonyliridium(I),[Ir(CO)
3Cl]
n, in the con
jugate Br
nsted-Lewis superacid HF-SbF
5 and in a CO atmosphere, produce [Rh(CO)
5Cl][Sb
2F
11]
2 or [Ir(CO)
5Cl][Sb
2F
11]
2, respectively. In these oxidative carbonylation reactions, antimony(V)fluoride functions as an oxidizing agent. The reduced product is identified as 6SbF
3·5SbF
5. [Rh(CO)
5Cl][Sb
2F
11]
2is obtained in the form of single crystals. Crystal data: monoclinic, space group
P2
1 (No. 4);
a = 9.721(1),
b =12.602(1),
c = 10.538(1) Å;
= 106.51(1)
;
V = 1237.7(2) Å
3;
Z = 2;
T = 300 K; R
1 [
I > 3
(
I)] = 0.0367, wR
2= 0.0739. Single crystals of [Ir(CO)
5Cl][Sb
2F
11]
2 are produced in small amounts from a solution of
mer-Ir(CO)
3(SO
3F)
3 in magic acid, HSO
3F-SbF
5. The possible source of chlorine will be discussed. Crystal data for [Ir(CO)
5Cl][Sb
2F
11]
2: monoclinic, space group
P2
1 (No. 4);
a = 9.686(2),
b = 12.585(2),
c = 10.499(2) Å;
=106.59(2)
;
V = 1226.5(4) Å
3;
Z = 2;
T = 294 K; R
1[
I > 3
(
I)] = 0.032, R
w = 0.031. The bond lengths
andbond angles are nearly identical in the two isostructural salts; however, the cell volume of [Ir(CO)
5Cl][Sb
2F
11]
2is slightly smaller than that of [Rh(CO)
5Cl][Sb
2F
11]
2. The cations (point group
C4v) feature unusually long M-Cbonds (M = Rh, Ir)
and correspondingly short CO bonds, as well as high CO stretching wavenumbers
and highCO stretching force constants. The [Sb
2F
11]
- anions are not symmetry related,
and their dihedral
and bridgeangles differ slightly in both salts. There are significant interionic contacts in [Ir(CO)
5Cl][Sb
2F
11]
2 exclusively ofthe C- -F type (about 2 for each C atom of the five carbonyl groups) resulting in extended structures. The vibrationalspectra for both [M(CO)
5Cl]
2+ cations (M = Rh, Ir) are assigned with the help of density functional calculations,which also provide intensities for IR
and Raman b
ands. While [Rh(CO)
5Cl]
2+ is the first cationic carbonyl derivativeof Rh(III), the vibrational
and structural parameters for [Ir(CO)
5Cl]
2+ are compared to data for [Ir(CO)
6]
3+ andmer-Ir(CO)
3(SO
3F)
3.