Synthesis and characterisation of tetramethylfulvene complexes of ruthenium

Abstract

Reactions of [RuCp*Cl₂]₂ with dibenzoylmethane and triethylamine, in either dichloromethane or toluene, produced the complexes [RuCl(η⁶-C₅Me₄CH₂)(PhCOCCOPh)] (1) and [RuCl₃(η⁶-C₅Me₄CH₂)][RuCp*(C₆H₅CH₃)] (2) respectively under mild conditions. Both compounds 1 and 2 are examples of an unusual tetramethylfulvene-ruthenium structure, obtained by deprotonation of the pentamethylcyclopentadienyl ligand, and were characterised by single-crystal X-ray diffraction.