New water-soluble ruthenium(II) and osmium(II) hydroxo carbonyl complexes

A high-yield procedure is described for the preparation, from [M(CO)(3)Cl-2](2) (M = Ru, Os) and aqueous NaOH, of the new water-soluble and air-stable species [Ru(CO)(2)Cl(OH)](n), [Ru(CO)(2)(OH)(2)](n), [Os(CO)(3)Cl(OH)](2), and [Os(CO)(3)(OH)(2)](x) (x = 2 or n).