Abstract
Removal of the transition metal vertex from an “isocloso” metallaborane having 9, 10, or 11 vertices and 2ν skeletal electrons leads to a BnHn2- ligand or isoelectronic derivative thereof having one open hexagonal face for hexahapto bonding to the transition metal and 2ν − 7 triangular faces. The numbers of available skeletal electrons and orbitals in such isocloso metallaboranes correspond to ν 2-electron 3-center bonds in ν of the 2ν − 4 faces of the original metallaborane deltahedron. This contrasts with the 2-electron ν-center core bond and the ν surface bonds in the closo metal-free BnHn2- and C2Bn-2Hn deltahedra with 2ν + 2 skeletal electrons. A diamond−square process removing an M−B edge from an isocloso metallaborane to give an “isonido” metallaborane converts a set of six skeletal orbitals from two 2-electron 3-center bonds into three 2-electron 2-center bonds.

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