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
Mercury(IV) fluoride Mercury(IV) fluoride Mercury(IV) fluoride, HgF, is the first mercury compound to be reported with mercury in the oxidation state IV. Mercury, like the other group 12 elements (cadmium and zinc), has an sd electron configuration and generally only forms bonds involving its 6s orbital. This means that the highest oxidation state mercury normally attains is II, and for this reason it is usually considered a post-transition metal instead of a transition metal. HgF was first reported from experiments in 2007, but its existence remains disputed; experiments conducted in 2008 could not replicate the compound. Speculation about higher oxidation states for