Fe3(CO)12 consists of a triangle of iron atoms surrounded by 12 CO ligands. Ten of the CO ligands are terminal and two span an Fe---Fe edge, resulting in C2v point group symmetry. By contrast, Ru3(CO)12 and Os3(CO)12 adopt D3h-symmetric structures, wherein all 12 CO ligands are terminally bound to the metals. Spectroscopic evidence indicates that the two carbonyl groups may be unsymmetrical, in which case the idealized C2v symmetry is reduced to C2. In solution Fe3(CO)12 is fluxional, resulting in equivalencing all 12 CO groups. Overall, it can be appreciated that these three clusters formally arise from condensation of three 16-electron M(CO)4 fragments, akin to the theoretical condensation of three methylene (:CH2) molecules into cyclopropane.