The thermal reaction of the tetranuclear cluster HIrRu3(CO)(13) with ethylene in hexane (90 degrees C, 2 bar) affords, in addition to H3IrRu3(CO)(12), the pentanuclear cluster HIrRu4(CO)(15)(mu(4)-C-CH3) (1) in which the ethylidyne ligand is coordinated through a carbon atom to the four ruthenium atoms in the IrRu4 core. In this reaction, the CH2=CH2 molecule has been transformed into a C-CH3 moiety coordinated as a mu(4)-ligand to the cluster. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.