Scission of ethyne into two methylidyne ligands: CC vs. C–H bond activation

Abstract

The dimolybdenum alkyne complexes [Mo₂(CO)₄(µ-R¹C₂R²)(η-C₅H₅)₂](R¹= R²= Me; R¹= H, R²= H, Me, Ph) react with [Ru₃(CO)₁₂] in refluxing toluene or heptane to give the hexanuclear bis(alkylidyne) clusters [Mo₂Ru₄(µ₃-CR¹)(µ₃-CR²)(CO)₁₂(η-C₅H₅)₂]; this represents the first reported transformation of ethyne into two methylidyne ligands on a metal cluster.