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
Combination reaction fluorine gas will combine in a highly exothermic reaction to form the salt barium fluoride: Another example is magnesium oxide combining with carbon dioxide to produce magnesium carbonate. Another example is iron combining with sulphur to produce iron(II) sulfide. When a combination reaction occurs between a metal and a non-metal the product is an ionic solid. An example could be lithium reacting with sulphur to give lithium sulphide. When magnesium burns in air, the atoms of the metal combine with the gas oxygen to produce magnesium oxide. This specific combination reaction produces the bright flame generated by flares. Combination reactions