Metallacycle
In organometallic chemistry, a metallacycle is a derivative of a carbocyclic compound wherein a metal has replaced at least one carbon center; this is to some extent similar to heterocycles. Metallacycles appear frequently as reactive intermediates in catalysis, e.g. olefin metathesis and alkyne trimerization. In organic synthesis, directed ortho metalation is widely used for the functionalization of arene rings via C-H activation. One main effect that metallic atom substitution on a cyclic carbon compound is distorting the geometry due to the large size of typical metals.
Typically, metallacycles are cyclic compounds with two metal carbon bonds.
Many compounds containing metals in rings are known, for example chelate rings. Usually, such compounds are not classified as metallacycles, but the naming conventions are not rigidly followed. Within the area of coordination chemistry and supramolecular chemistry, examples include metallacrowns, metallacryptands, metallahelices, and molecular wheels.
Metal-alkene complexes can be viewed as the smallest metallacycles, but they usually are not classified as metallacycles. In the Dewar-Chatt-Duncanson model, one resonance structure for the M(η2-alkene) center is the metallacyclopropane.
The parent metallacyclobutane has the formula LnM(CH2)3 where L is a ligand attached to M. A stable example is (PPh3)2Pt(CH2)3. The first example was prepared by oxidative addition of cyclopropane to platinum.
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