The first iodine induced halide abstraction reaction: synthesis and molecular structure of fac-[Re(CO)3(NCMe)3]·BrI2

Equimolar quantities of [ReBr(CO)5] and I2 react in refluxing acetonitrile for 5 h to give the cationic tris(acetonitrile) complex fac-[Re(CO)3(NCMe)3]·BrI2 (1) in a quantitative yield, via the first iodine promoted halide abstraction reaction. The structure of 1 has, as expected, a facial arrangement of carbonyl and acetonitrile ligands, with the linear anion, BrI2 as the counter ion.