Metal carbonyl 18-electron complexes is sometimes catalysed by catalytic amounts of oxidants, via electron-transfer. Metal carbonyls react with reducing agents such as metallic sodium or sodium amalgam to give carbonylmetalate (or carbonylate) anions: For iron pentacarbonyl, one obtains the tetracarbonylferrate with loss of CO: Mercury can insert into the metal-metal bonds of some polynuclear metal carbonyls: The CO ligand is often susceptible to attack by nucleophiles. For example, trimethylamine oxide and bistrimethylsilylamide convert CO ligands to CO and CN, respectively. In the "Hieber base reaction", hydroxide ion attacks the CO ligand to give a metallacarboxylic acid, followed by the release of carbon
Wurtz–Fittig reaction Wurtz–Fittig reaction The Wurtz–Fittig reaction is the chemical reaction of aryl halides with alkyl halides and sodium metal in the presence of dry ether to give substituted aromatic compounds. Charles-Adolphe Wurtz reported what is now known as the Wurtz reaction in 1855, involving the formation of a new carbon-carbon bond by coupling two alkyl halides. Work by Rudolph Fittig in the 1860s extended the approach to the coupling of an alkyl halide with an aryl halide. This modification of the Wurtz reaction is considered a separate process and is named for both scientists. The reaction works best for forming asymmetrical