Ion metathesis of [(ring)CrCl 2 ] 2 (ring ) Cp, Cp*) with excess KCN in water affords the complexes [(ring)Cr(CN) 3 ] -, which have been isolated as PPh 4 + salts and characterized by elemental (C, H) analysis, 1 H NMR, magnetic suceptibility, and an X-ray investigation for the Cp* species. The interaction of these complexes with excess CNgenerate equilibrium amounts of the EPR-active, 17-electron [(ring)Cr(CN) 4 ] 2adducts. The equilibrium constant for this addition process is 2.3 ( 0.1 M -1 for ring ) Cp and (4.4 ( 0.2) × 10 -3 M -1 for ring) Cp* at 298 K. Either treatment of [CpCr(CN) 3 ] -with monodentate (L) or bidentate (L 2 ) tertiary phosphine ligands (e.g. PMe 3 , PMe 2 Ph, dmpm, dmpe) or reaction between CpCrCl 2 (η 1 -L 2 ) or [CpCrCl 2 L + L] and excess Me 3 SiCN leads to solutions containing small equilibrium amounts of EPR-active species which are characterized by hyperfine coupling to two equivalent P nuclei and are interpreted as the 17-electron CpCr(CN) 2 L 2 . The thermal accessibility of these 17-electron Cr(III) cyanide derivatives, as compared with the inaccessibility of the correponding chloride and methyl systems, is analyzed energetically in terms of the ligand steric and electronic effects.