# Synthesis and Characterization of Novel Cobalt Carbonyl Phosphorus and Arsenic Clusters

## TL;DR

This paper describes the synthesis and analysis of new cobalt clusters containing phosphorus and arsenic, revealing diverse structures influenced by reaction conditions.

## Contribution

The paper introduces a comprehensive study of cobalt clusters with phosphorus and arsenic, highlighting the effect of reactant ratios and conditions on compound diversity.

## Key findings

- Novel cobalt phosphorus and arsenic clusters were synthesized under varied conditions.
- Structural and spectroscopic analyses confirmed the diversity of the clusters.
- Modifying reactant ratios and conditions leads to a rich variety of compounds.

## Abstract

Phosphorus- and arsenic-containing cobalt clusters are an interesting class of compounds that continue to provide new structures with captivating bonding patterns. Although the first members of this family were reported 45 years ago, the number of such species is still limited within the broad family of transition metal complexes bearing pnictogen atoms. Herein, we present the reaction of Co2(CO)8 as a cobalt source with a number of phosphorus- and arsenic-containing compounds under variable reaction conditions. These reactions result in various known and novel cobalt phosphorus and cobalt arsenic clusters in which different nuclearity ratios between P/As and Co exist. All those clusters were characterized by X-ray structural analysis and partly by IR, 31P{1H} NMR, EI-MS and elemental analysis. This comprehensive study is the first detailed study in this field that reveals the richness of compounds that could be obtained only by modifying the ratio of used reactants and the involved reaction conditions.