A Bridging Carbonyl of Unlikely Geometry: On the True Nature of the Technetium Complex [Tc2(μ-CO)2(CO)6(NC5H5)2]

The title compound was reported a decade ago by Zuhayra et al as the main product of the reaction of [Tc2(CO)10] with pyridine at room temperature. Chemical information, coupled to density functional theory calculations, have now been used to show that the "bridging carbonyls" then proposed from the crystallographic data most likely correspond to bridging hydroperoxide groups.