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In this work, we introduce a novel approach for the selective assembly of heterometallic complexes by unprecedented coordination of coinage metal cations to strained single ruthenium–boron bonds on a surface of icosahedral boron clusters. M( i ) cations (M = Cu, Ag, and Au) insert into B–Ru bonds of the (BB)–carboryne complex of ruthenium with the formation of four-membered B–M–Ru–B metalacycles. Results of theoretical calculations suggest that bonding within these metalacycles can be best described as unusual three-center-two-electron B–M⋯Ru interactions that are isolobal to B–H⋯Ru borane coordination for M = Cu and Ag, or the pairs of two-center-two electron B–Au and Au–Ru interactions for M = Au. These transformations comprise the first synthetic route to exohedral coinage metal boryl complexes of icosahedral closo -{C 2 B 10 } clusters, which feature short Cu–B (2.029(2) Å) and Ag–B (2.182(3) Å) bonds and the shortest Au–B bond (2.027(2) Å) reported to date. The reported heterometallic complexes contain Cu( i ) and Au( i ) centers in uncharacteristic square-planar coordination environments. These findings pave the way to rational construction of a broader class of multimetallic architectures featuring M–B bonds. 

In this work, we introduce a novel concept of a borane group vicinal to a metal boryl bond acting as a supporting hemilabile ligand in exohedrally metalated three-dimensional carborane clusters. The (POBOP)Ru(Cl)(PPh 3 ) pincer complex (POBOP = 1,7-OP( i -Pr) 2 - m -2-carboranyl) features extreme distortion of the two-center-two-electron Ru–B bond due to the presence of a strong three-center-two-electron B–H⋯Ru vicinal interaction. Replacement of the chloride ligand with a hydride afforded the (POBOP)Ru(H)(PPh 3 ) pincer complex, which possesses B–Ru, B–H⋯Ru, and Ru–H bonds. This complex was found to exhibit a rapid exchange between hydrogen atoms of the borane and the terminal hydride through metal center shuttling between two boron atoms of the carborane cage. This exchange process, which involves sequential cleavage and formation of strong covalent metal–boron and metal–hydrogen bonds, is unexpectedly facile at temperatures above −50 °C corresponding to an activation barrier of 12.2 kcal mol −1 . Theoretical calculations suggested two equally probable pathways for the exchange process through formally Ru(0) or Ru( iv ) intermediates, respectively. The presence of this hemilabile vicinal B–H⋯Ru interaction in (POBOP)Ru(H)(PPh 3 ) was found to stabilize a latent coordination site at the metal center promoting efficient catalytic transfer dehydrogenation of cyclooctane under nitrogen and air at 170 °C.