“…The bis(bidentate) ligands generally form the shorter edges of the rectangle, while rigid exo-bidentate ligands, such as 4,4 0 -bipyridine and trans-1,2-bis(pyridyl)ethylene [1], are used to form the longer edges. Linear oligomers/polymers or catenanes can, in principle, also be formed in the reaction of exo-bidentate ligands with {Re 2 (CO) 6 L} units [L ¼ bis(bidentate) ligand]. We have studied the reaction of [Re 2 (CO) 6 (m,h 2 :h 2 -C 2 O 4 )] n with trans-1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)-ethylene (dppene).…”