New highly stable metallabenzenes via nucleophilic aromatic substitution reaction

Article abstract of DOI:10.1002/chem.201003566

Treatment of the ruthenabenzene [Ru{CHC(PPh₃)CHC(PPh ₃)CH}Cl₂(PPh₃)₂]Cl (1) with excess 8-hydroxyquinoline in the presence of CH₃COONa under air atmosphere produced the S_NAr product [(C₉H₆NO) Ru{CHC(PPh₃)CHC(PPh₃)C}(C₉H₆NO) (PPh₃)]Cl₂ (3). Ruthenabenzene 3 could be stable in the solution of weak alkali or weak acid. However, reaction of 3 with NaOH afforded a 7:1 mixture of ruthenabenzenes [(C₉H₆NO)Ru{CHC(PPh ₃)CHCHC}(C₉H₆NO)(PPh₃)]Cl (4) and [(C₉H₆NO)Ru{CHCHCHC(PPh₃)C}(C₉H ₆NO)(PPh₃)]Cl (5), presumably involving a P-C bond cleavage of the metallacycle. Complex 3 was also reactive to HCl, which results in a transformation of 3 to ruthenabenzene [Ru{CHC(PPh₃)CHC(PPh ₃)C}Cl₂(C₉H₆NO)(PPh₃)]Cl (6) in high yield. Thermal stability tests showed that ruthenabenzenes 4, 5, and 6 have remarkable thermal stability both in solid state and in solution under air atmosphere. Ruthenabenzenes 4 and 5 were found to be fluorescent in common solvents and have spectral behaviors comparable to those organic multicyclic compounds containing large π-extended systems. Copyright

Full text of DOI:10.1002/chem.201003566

FULL PAPER
DOI: 10.1002/chem.201003566
New Highly Stable Metallabenzenes via Nucleophilic Aromatic Substitution
Reaction
Ran Lin, Hong Zhang,* Shunhua Li, Jiani Wang, and Haiping Xia*[a]
Abstract: Treatment of the ruthena-
benzene [Ru{CHC(PPh3)CHC-
(PPh3)CH}Cl (PPh3)2]Cl (1) with excess
8-hydroxyquinoline in the presence of
CH3COONa under air atmosphere pro-
duced the SNAr product [(C9H6NO)Ru-
N
G
ACHTUNGTREN(NUG PPh3)C}Cl2ACHUTNTGERN(NUNG C9H6NO)-
E
G
G
N
G
E
À
A
E
E
N
[RuACHTNUGTRENNNUG
A
3
could be stable in the solution of weak
alkali or weak acid. However, reaction
of 3 with NaOH afforded a 7:1 mixture
of ruthenabenzenes [(C9H6NO)Ru-
·
·
nucleophilic
·
ACHTUNGTRENNUNG{CHCACHTUNGTRENNUNG(PPh3)CHCHC}ACTHUNGTREN(NUGN C9H6NO)-
Introduction
of metallabenzenes with the first- or second-row transition
metals due to the rare examples.[8a,9a,11]
Metallabenzenes are an attractive class of organometallic
complexes because they can display aromatic properties and
mediate organometallic reactions.[1] As one of the major
issues of metallabenzene chemistry, the isolation and charac-
terization of stable metallabenzenes have been extensively
investigated.[2–5] Most of the well characterized stable metal-
labenzenes are those with a transition metal of the third
transition series, especially osmium,[3] iridium[4] and plati-
num.[5] In contrast, isolation of metallabenzenes with a
metal of the first or the second transition series has met
with limited success,[6–9] although they have been frequently
proposed as reactive intermediates.[10] Furthermore, the ma-
jority of such species should be stabilized by coordination of
p-system to another metal fragment,[6] or have only been de-
tected spectroscopically at low temperature.[7] We have pre-
pared a series of phosphonium-substituted ruthenabenzenes,
which represent the first stable examples of non-metal-coor-
dinated metallabenzenes containing a transition metal of the
second transition series.[8] The bicyclic species, which were
described as tethered metallabenzenes, constitute an addi-
tion to this special class of metallabenzenes.[9] In the litera-
tures, there are few studies on the reactivities and properties
Researches on unique characteristic chemical reactions of
metallabenzenes, such as electrophilic aromatic substitution
(SEAr) or nucleophilic aromatic substitution (SNAr), are of
great importance not only to provide strong chemical sup-
port for the aromaticity of the metallabenzene ring but also
to obtain new interesting organometallic complexes. For ex-
ample, Roper, Wright, and co-workers have demonstrated
that the SEAr reaction of metallabenzenes could afford the
related halo-metallabenzenes.[12] While this manuscript was
still in preparation, they also reported the first metallaben-
zene reactions that involve intermolecular SNAr of hydrogen
by external nucleophiles.[13] Paneque et al. reported that the
nucleophilic attack of HOÀ or MeOÀ to iridaaromatics al-
lowed the formation of Jackson–Meisenheimer complexes.[14]
In addition, metallabenzynes, the relative of metallaben-
zenes, can also undergo SEAr and nucleophilic aromatic ad-
dition reactions.[15] In our previous study, we found that the
intramolecular SNAr reaction of osmabenzene [Os
2A
the first metallabenzothiazole [Eq. (1)],[16] and the nucleo-
philic aromatic addition reactions of metallabenzene [M-
ACHTUNGTRENNUNG
ACHUTNERGN(NUG PPh3)CHCACHTUNGRTEN(NUGN SCN)CH}ACHUTNGTREG(NUNN NCS) CTHNUGTRENNNUG
AHCTUNRETGGN{NUN CHCCAHUTGTNRENNGU(PPh3)CHCACHTUNGERTG(NUNN PPh3)CH}Cl2ACTHUNGTREN(NUGN PPh3)2]Cl (M=Os or Ru)
produced the metallacyclohexadiene and h2-allene-coordi-
nated metallacycles [Eq. (2)].[11] These observations prompt-
ed us to search new nucleophilic reagents to construct met-
allaaromatics with special properties.
[a] R. Lin, Dr. H. Zhang, Dr. S. Li, J. Wang, Prof. Dr. H. Xia
State Key Laboratory for Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces
College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005 (P.R. China)
Fax : (+86)592-2186628
8-Hydroxyquinoline has long been regarded as a versatile
and useful bidentate ligand with a variety of applications.[17]
Thus we envisioned that related multicyclic complexes with
special properties might be formed if 8-hydroxyquinoline
E-mail: hpxia@xmu.edu.cn
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ꢀ 2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
4223

16.8 and 16.4 ppm. In the 13C{1H} NMR spectrum, the five
carbon signals of the metallacycle appear at d = 294.1
(RuCH), 289.7 (RuCH), 145.5 (g-CH), 116.1 (CPPh3) and
114.0 ppm (CPPh3).
When the proportion of 8-hydroxyquinoline in this reac-
tion was increased, the expected nucleophilic attack of 8-hy-
droxyquinoline on a carbon of the metallacycle has not been
detected. However, in the presence of CH3COONa and
under air atmosphere, the reaction of complex 1 with excess
8-hydroxyquinoline afforded the SNAr product
3
(Scheme 1). As suggested by in situ NMR, we defined com-
plex 1 with 5.0 equivalents of 8-hydroxyquinoline in the
presence of 10 equivalents CH3COONa in CH2Cl2 under air
atmosphere as the standard conditions, which could ensure
the complete transformation of 1 in 24 h. The reaction of
isolated 2 with excess 8-hydroxyquinoline under the same
conditions gave the same result. In both reactions, the prod-
uct 3 could not be obtained in the absence of CH3COONa.
In addition, the reactions did not proceed when manipula-
tions were carried out under nitrogen atmosphere.
could act as an external nucleophile to react with our ruthe-
nabenzenes. In this paper, we report the first SNAr reaction
of ruthenabenzene, which was attacked by 8-hydroxyquino-
line and generated a multicyclic complex containing a metal-
labenzene unit. Further treatments of this new multicyclic
complex achieved the highly stable metallabenzenes with
notable anti-acid or anti-alkali properties. Considering the
large p-extended structures of these multicyclic complexes,
their photoluminescence properties were also studied. The
details of the results are reported in the following section.
As complex 3 has good solubility in organic solvents, it is
difficult to obtain the single crystal of 3 to determine its
solid-state structure. Fortunately, the counter anion ClÀ in 3
À
can be easily replaced with BPh4 by treatment of 3 with
NaBPh4 to give ruthenabenzene 3’. The structure of 3’ was
confirmed unambiguously by X-ray diffraction. As shown in
Figure 1, complex 3’ contains an essentially planar metalla-
benzene unit. The maximum deviation from the least-
Results and Discussion
À
Reactions of ruthenabenzene with 8-hydroxyquinoline:
Treatment of 1 with 1.5 equivalents of 8-hydroxyquinoline
in dichloromethane led to the formation of the correspond-
ing monosubstituted ruthenabenzene 2 (Scheme 1). The
squares plane through Ru1 and C1 C5 is 0.0566 (0.0035) ꢁ
for C1, and the sum of angles in the six-membered ring is
719.48, which is very close to the ideal value of 7208. It is in-
teresting that even the seventeen atoms of the metallacycle
À
(Ru, C1 C5) and the 8-hydroxyquinoline ring (N1, O1, and
Scheme 1. Reactions of ruthenabenzene 1 with 8-hydroxyquinoline. a) 8-
hydroxyquinoline (1.5 equiv), CH2Cl2, 2 h; b) 8-hydroxyquinoline
(5.0 equiv), CH3COONa (10 equiv), CH2Cl2, under air atmosphere, 24 h.
Figure 1. Moleculr structure for the cation of complex 3’ (ellipsoids at the
50% probability level). Counter anion and some of the hydrogen atoms
structure of 2 can be deduced easily, as its NMR data is sim-
ilar to our previously reported ruthenabenzene [Ru
ACHTUNGTNER{NUNG CHC-
À
are omitted for clarity. Selected bond lengths [ꢁ] and angles [8]: Ru1 P1:
A
E
N
(PPh3)]Cl2,[8] which has been
À
À
À
2.3802(15), Ru1 N2: 2.129(5), Ru1 O2: 2.151(4), Ru1 N1: 2.187(5),
À
À
À
À
Ru1 C1: 1.937(6), Ru1 C5: 1.886(5), C1 C2: 1.383(8), C2 C3: 1.419(8),
structurally characterized by X-ray diffraction. In particular,
the 31P{1H} NMR spectrum shows three singlet peaks at d =
36.4 (RuPPh3), 18.6 (CPPh3) and 18.4 ppm (CPPh3). In the
1H NMR spectrum, the two signals of RuCH appear at d =
À
À
À
À
C3 C4: 1.382(7), C4 C5: 1.455(8), P2 C2: 1.794(5), P3 C4: 1.802(5);
P1-Ru1-N2: 169.75(13), O2-Ru1-N1: 88.48(16), C1-Ru1-C5: 92.0(2), Ru1-
C1-C2: 128.4(4), C1-C2-C3: 123.0(5), C2-C3-C4: 125.2(5), C3-C4-C5:
122.3(5), C4-C5-Ru1: 128.5(4).
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New Highly Stable Metallabenzenes
FULL PAPER
À
C11 C19) are approximately coplanar, which is reflected by
the mean deviation (0.0726 ꢁ) from the least-squares plane.
3. It is also possible that an H2 elimination in B gives 3 di-
rectly in the presence of O2. Consistent with the mechanism,
the formation of 3 could not be observed when the reaction
was performed under oxygen-free atmosphere. The addition
of excess CH3COONa may facilitate the intramolecular nu-
cleophilic attack of the 8-hydroxyquinoline to aromatic met-
allacycle.
À
The Ru1 C5 bond (1.886(5) ꢁ) is appreciably shorter than
the Ru1 C1 bond (1.937(6) ꢁ). The similar trend has been
observed in Bleekeꢂs iridaphenol [Ir{=C(OH)C(Me)=
À
CHC(Me)=CH}
A
E
(1.916(16)
and
2.031(16) ꢁ)[18] and Jiaꢂs osmaphenol [Os{=C(OH)CH=
C(Me)C
G
E
G
(1.921(4)
and
This mechanism is parallel to our previous reported intra-
molecular SNAr reaction of osmabenzene.[16] The convincing
evidence that nucleophilic addition may be a reasonable ini-
tial step was provided by the isolation of the Jackson–Mei-
senheimer complexes in the nucleophilic aromatic addition
reactions[11,14] and in the intermolecular SNAr reactions of
metallabenzenes.[13] These observations suggest that the nu-
cleophilic reactivity of the metallacycle can be promoted
when the electron density of the aromatic ring is significant-
ly decreased by the electron-withdrawing groups.
2.010(4) ꢁ),[15a] respectively. Probably due to the electronic
À
asymmetry of the substituent groups, the C4 C5 bond
(1.455(8) ꢁ) is markedly longer than other C C bonds of
the metallacycle (C1 C2 1.383(8), C2 C3 1.419(8), C3 C4
À
À
À
1.382(7) ꢁ). Overall, the Ru C and C C bond distances
within the six-membered ring, together with its planar
nature, still indicate that the metallacycle has a generally de-
localized structure.
On the basis of the characterized structure of 3 and the
reaction conditions, a plausible mechanism for the reaction
of ruthenabenzene 2 with 8-hydroxyquinoline is proposed in
Scheme 2. Ligand substitution in complex 2 with coordina-
Reactivity of ruthenabenzene 3 with alkalis or acids: As
mentioned above, the excess CH3COONa has been regard-
ed as one of essential conditions for the formation of ruthe-
nabenzene 3. Thus, it appears that complex 3 could be
stable in the solution with weak alkali. To further investigate
the stability/reactivity of this new tethered ruthenabenzene,
3 was subjected to a variety of alkali or acid conditions. As
shown in Scheme 3, 3 has good stability in solution in the
presence of weak alkali, such as CH3COONa, NaHCO3, and
triethylamine. When excess Na2CO3 was added to the solu-
tion of 3 in methanol, slow transformation was observed
during the course of two days of observation. The transfor-
mation proceeded better when the water solution of excess
NaOH was added instead. As monitored by in situ NMR
spectroscopy, when a solution of 3 in methanol was stirred
for 24 h in the presence of two equivalents NaOH, 3 was
completely consumed to give a 7:1 mixture of 4 and 5
(Scheme 3).
A pure sample of compound 4 can be obtained from the
reaction mixture by column chromatography in 73% yield.
The structure of 4 has been determined by X-ray diffraction
study, and a view of the cation of 4 is shown in Figure 2.
The structural feature associated with the metallacycle of 4
Scheme 2. Plausible mechanism for the SNAr reaction of ruthenabenzene
2 with 8-hydroxyquinoline.
tion of the N atom of 8-hydroxyquinoline initially gives A,
which could undergo intramolecular nucleophilic addition
with the free hydroxyl group of the 8-hydroxyquinoline
ligand to give the O-protonation intermediate B. Elimina-
tion of HCl from B could produce the Jackson–Meisenheim-
er C. Subsequent dissociation of the 8-hydroxyquinoline
ligand from metal center and a-H migration from Ca atom
of the metallacycle to metal center may produce hydrido-
metallabenzene intermediate D. Finally, the oxidation of D,
followed by the recoordination of the 8-hydroxyquinoline N
atom to the ruthenium center would yield ruthenabenzene
Scheme 3. Reactions of ruthenabenzene 3 with alkali.
Chem. Eur. J. 2011, 17, 4223 – 4231
ꢀ 2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
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4225

H. Xia, H. Zhang et al.
Figure 2. Molecular structure for the cation of complex 4 (ellipsoids at
the 50% probability level). Counter anion and some of the hydrogen
atoms are omitted for clarity. Selected bond lengths [ꢁ] and angles [8]:
Scheme 4. Plausible mechanism for the formation of ruthenabenzene 4.
À
À
À
À
Ru1 N2: 2.124(4), Ru1 P1: 2.3593(14), Ru1 O2: 2.174(3), Ru1 N1:
À
À
À
À
2.183(4), Ru1 C1: 1.962(5), Ru1 C5: 1.880(5), C1 C2: 1.368(6), C2 C3:
reaction.[19] The favored pathway to form 4 is presumably
due to the steric effect introduced by the 8-hydroxyquino-
line substituent of the metallacycle.
We studied the reaction of 3 with MeLi as well. Decom-
position of 3 was observed, which resulted in a number of
phosphorus-containing species which proved difficult to be
separated and identified.
À
À
À
1.423(6), C3 C4: 1.355(7), C4 C5: 1.436(6), P2 C2: 1.776(5); N2-Ru1-
P1: 169.32(11), O2-Ru1-N1: 89.05(14), C1-Ru1-C5: 90.0(2), Ru1-C1-C2:
129.0(4), C1-C2-C3: 122.3(5), C2-C3-C4: 124.7(5), C3-C4-C5: 123.4(5),
C4-C5-Ru1: 129.3(4).
is very similar to that of 3. The metallacycle and the 8-hy-
droxyquinoline ring are essentially coplanar (the mean devi-
ation from the least-squares plane through all seventeen
atoms is 0.0708 ꢁ). And the Ru1 C5 bond (1.880(5) ꢁ) is
also shorter than the Ru1 C1 bond (1.962(5) ꢁ). Although
Complex 3 can tolerate weak acid AcOH in solution.
When excess HCl were allowed to react with 3, the reaction
1
À
yielded 6 in four hours (Scheme 5). The in situ H NMR ex-
À
periment showed that similar reaction occurred when excess
HF, HBF4, or H3PO4 was added to the solution of 3, al-
though the reactions were slower and some unreacted 3 was
detectable by NMR after four hours.
À
the C C distances within the six-membered ruthenacyclic
ring of 4 show considerable alternation (C1 C2 1.368(6),
À
À
À
À
C2 C3 1.423(6), C3 C4 1.355(7), C4 C5 1.436(6) ꢁ), all of
the four-bond distances still fall within the range observed
for other metallabenzenes,[2–5] indicating a certain degree of
delocalization within the metallacycle system of 4. Consis-
tent with the solid-state structure, the 1H and 13C NMR
chemical shifts of the ring atoms appear in the aromatic
1
region. The H NMR spectrum displays the RuCH signal at
d=13.7 ppm, the RuCHC
and the RuCHC
(PPh3)CHCH signal at 6.6 ppm. The 13C{1H}
NMR spectrum shows the five carbon signals of the metalla-
cycle at d=264.7 (RuCH), 110.4 (C(PPh3)), 142.2 (g-CH),
119.4 (RuCHC(PPh3)CHCH) and 286.3 ppm (RuC).
ACHTUNGRTEN(NUNG PPh3)CH signal at d=7.4 ppm
ACHTUNGTRENNUNG
AHCTUNGTRENNUNG
ACHTUNGTRENNUNG
Complex 5 can be isolated as a green solid from the reac-
tion mixture by column chromatography in approximately
8% yield. The structure of 5 can be assigned readily, as its
characterizing spectroscopic data is similar to those of 4,
which has been confirmed by X-ray diffraction. In terms of
chemical composition, complex 5 is almost the same as 4 in
that they all contain one six-membered ruthenacyclic ring,
one PPh3 ligand and two 8-hydroxyquinoline groups. The
only difference is the position of the phosphonium group of
5 attached to the b-carbon.
Scheme 5. Reactions of ruthenabenzene 3 with acids.
Complex 6 is isolated as a green solid in 91% yield. The
structure of 6 has been confirmed by X-ray diffraction
(Figure 3). The most notable structural feature of 6 is that
the metallacycle ring deviates significantly from planarity.
The mean deviation from the least-squares plane through
À
the C1 C5 chain is 0.0250 ꢁ. The Ru is out of the plane of
the metallacyclic carbon atoms by 0.5243 (51) ꢁ. The 8-hy-
droxyquinoline ring is out of the plane, which differs from
the related complex 3’ and 4. Despite the relatively long
A rationale that accounts for the observed results is
shown in Scheme 4. The formation of 4 or 5 may involve a
À
À
À
P C bond cleavage of metallacycle. Easy breaking of the P
C bond is not surprising, as the alkaline hydrolysis of phos-
phonium salts have been studied extensively and there is
general agreement about the mechanism of the hydrolysis
C4 C5 bond length, the lack of significant alternations in
À
À
the other C C bond lengths and the Ru C distances of met-
allacycle suggest the delocalized structure of 6, which is sim-
ilar to those reported nonplanar metallabenzenes.[4m,12,14,15a]
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Chem. Eur. J. 2011, 17, 4223 – 4231

New Highly Stable Metallabenzenes
FULL PAPER
Table 1. Thermal decomposition data of ruthenabenzenes 1–6 in solid
state.[a]
1008C
1208C
1508C
1708C
1908C
[b]
[c]
[d]
1[8]
2
3
4
5
–
–
–
*
–
–
–
~
&
*
1
~
~
*
*
*
&
*
*
*
*
*
1
[e]
&
2
[f]
&
*
*
*
3
[f]
&
*
3
[g]
&
6
–
4
~
*
[a] All reactions were carried out for 5 h. [b] =Stable. [c] =Partly de-
&
composed. [d] 1 =Completely decomposed, major product is complex 8.
&
&
[e] 2 =Completely decomposed, major product is complex 6. [f]
=
3
&
Completely decomposed, major product is Ph3PO. [g] 4 =Completely
decomposed, major product is complex 7.
Figure 3. Molecular structure for the cation of complex 6 (ellipsoids at
the 50% probability level). Counter anion and some of the hydrogen
atoms are omitted for clarity. Selected bond lengths [ꢁ] and angles [8]:
1508C for five hours. When the solid sample of 6 is heated
at 1708C, the decomposition occurs (Scheme 6). The major
decomposition product 7 could be isolated by column chro-
À
À
À
À
Ru1 Cl1: 2.4570(14), Ru1 P1: 2.3393(14), Ru1 Cl2: 2.5160(15), Ru1
À
À
À
À
N1: 2.215(4), Ru1 C1: 1.921(4), Ru1 C5: 1.881(4), C1 C2: 1.401(6), C2
À
À
À
À
C3: 1.405(6), C3 C4: 1.388(6), C4 C5: 1.440(6), P2 C2: 1.788(4), P3
C4: 1.790(4); Cl1-Ru1-P1: 173.60(4), Cl2-Ru1-N1: 89.85(10), C1-Ru1-C5:
91.46(17), Ru1-C1-C2: 125.4(3), C1-C2-C3: 123.5(4), C2-C3-C4: 124.3(4),
C3-C4-C5: 122.2(4), C4-C5-Ru1: 125.0(3).
The nonplanarity found in metallabenzene complexes has
been investigated theoretically via DFT calculations.[20] In
addition, the characteristic spectroscopic data related to 6
1
demonstrate the ruthenabenzene formulation. The H NMR
spectrum shows two 1H NMR signals at d = 16.5 and
7.4 ppm for the two CH of the metallacycle. The 31P{1H}
NMR spectrum shows three singlet peaks at d=46.0
(RuPPh3), 24.0 (CPPh3), 17.6 ppm (CPPh3). In the 13C{1H}
NMR spectrum, the five carbon signals of the metallacycle
Scheme 6. Thermal decomposition reactions of ruthenabenzenes 3 and 6.
appear at d=292.6 (RuCH), 113.4 (C
ACHTUNGRTEN(NUGN PPh3)), 154.8 (g-CH),
105.6 (C(PPh3)) and 273.2 ppm (RuC).
ACHTUNGTRENNUNG
The reaction of complex 3 with HClO4 has also been car-
ried out. The in situ NMR experiment indicated that addi-
tion of the strong oxidizing acid HClO4 to the solution of 3
in methanol caused the completely decomposition of com-
plex 3. The decomposition destroyed the metallabenzene
ring and released triphenylphosphine oxide.
matography. The structure of 7 has been determined by X-
ray diffraction study, and the molecular structure is shown
in Figure 4. Compound 7 contains a planar five-membered
carboncycle with one 8-hydroxyquinoline substituent and
two PPh3 substituents. The co-planarity is reflected by the
very small mean deviations (0.0017 ꢁ) from the least-
squares planes through the five atoms C1, C2, C3, C4, and
C5. Compound 7 is closely related to compound 8, the ther-
mal decomposition product of ruthenabenzene 1,[8a] which
has been preveniently assigned to the few stable cyclopenta-
dienyl ion examples [Eq. (3)]. In previous literatures, there
are ample evidences for the ready conversion of metallaben-
zenes to h5- or h1-cyclopentadienyl complexes.[3a,4k–p] It is
speculated that the transformation to cyclopentadienyl ion
in our metallabenzene systems may be attributed to the
presence of bulky phosphonium substituents.
Thermal decomposition reactions of ruthenabenzenes: With
the anti-acid and anti-alkali ruthenabenzenes in hand, we
turned to examine their thermal stability. The thermal stabil-
ity tests have been performed in air, and the results are
given in Table 1. We have reported the unusually high ther-
mal stability of ruthenabenzene 1.[8a] As shown in Table 1,
these new species of metallabenzenes containing 8-hydroxy-
quinoline group have even more remarkable stability, espe-
cially complexes 4 and 5. Solid sample of 4 or 5 can be
heated at 1708C for at least five hours without noticeable
decomposition. When the temperature was increased to
1908C, as indicated by in situ NMR, the sample decomposed
to form a mixture of species with triphenylphosphine oxide
as the dominant product.
The acid-resistant ruthenabenzene 6 is very stable, which
remains nearly unchanged in solid state after heated at
Chem. Eur. J. 2011, 17, 4223 – 4231
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H. Xia, H. Zhang et al.
Photoluminescence properties of the investigated ruthena-
benzenes: As suggested by the X-ray crystal structures, the
metallacycle and the 8-hydroxyquinoline ring in 3, 4 or 5
have a degree of delocalization within the coplanar tetracy-
clic framework. Since a number of organic compounds with
conjugated multicycle frameworks are known as efficient
fluorophores, the photoluminescence properties of 3, 4, and
5 were studied. Although ruthenabenzene 3 in solution was
almost nonfluorescent at room temperature, its derivatives 4
and 5 were found to be fluorescent in common solvents
(Figure 5). For example, the quantum yields were calculated
Figure 4. Molecular structure for the cation of complex 7 (ellipsoids at
the 50% probability level). Counter anion and some of the hydrogen
atoms are omitted for clarity. Selected bond lengths [ꢁ] and angles [8]:
À
À
À
À
C1 C2: 1.430(6), C2 C3: 1.407(5), C3 C4: 1.400(6), C4 C5: 1.444(6),
À
À
À
O1 C1: 1.398(5), P1 C2: 1.749(4), P2 C4: 1.737(4); C1-C2-C3: 106.0(4),
C2-C3-C4: 109.0(4), C3-C4-C5: 107.8(4), C4-C5-C1: 106.7(4), C5-C1-C2:
110.5(4).
The thermal stability of ruthenabenzenes 3–6 in solution
has also been studied. Comparison of the thermal stability
of ruthenabenzene series in DMSO is presented in Table 2.
It should be noted that heating solution of 4 and 5 at 1208C
did not result in appreciable decomposition.
Figure 5. Excitation (dot) and emission (solid) spectra of ruthenaben-
zenes 4 and 5 in methanol/water (1:1, v/v). [Ru]=1.0ꢃ10À4 molLÀ1
.
Table 2. Thermal decomposition data of ruthenabenzenes 3 and 4 in sol-
ution.[a]
1008C
1108C
1208C
1408C
to be 1.0% (258C) and 4.0% (258C) respectively for 4 and
5 in methanol-water (1:1, v/v) mixture, using rhodamine B
as the primary standard for calculation.[23] The long-wave-
length absorption and emission of 4 or 5 accorded well with
the large p-extended system of the coplanar 8-hydroxyqui-
noline-ruthenabenzene tetracycle. It is interesting that only
a small Stokesꢂ shift of about 20 nm has been observed for 4
or 5. This is comparable to the spectral behaviors of organic
multicyclic compounds such as fluorescein and rhodamine.
The photoluminescence of other related ruthenabenzenes
were also examined. Compound 2 in methanol/water exhib-
ited an intense fluorescence (295/500 nm), which is typical
of the 8-hydroxyquinoline ligand. As expected, compound 6
with nonplanar metallacycle was almost nonfluorescent in
solution at room temperature. Compared with compound 2,
the disappearance of 8-hydroxyquinoline-dominated fluores-
cence could be attributed to the arylation of the hydroxyl in
compound 6.
&
*
*
*
*
3
4
5
6
–
*
–
2
&
*
*
*
3
&
*
3
&
–
4
[a] For definition see footnote in Table 1.
We have recently reported some noticeable stable metal-
laaromatics, including osmabenzenes,[3b] osmapyridine,[3c] os-
manaphthalyne,[3d] and ruthenabenzenes.[8] Except our pre-
venient paper, there are only a few reports about thermal
stability of metallaaromatics.[4j,k,m,o,5a,21,22] Haley et al. dem-
onstrated
N
that
their
iridabenzene
[Ir-
(PPh3)2] is thermally stable to
about 2008C, which represents the first and the only docu-
mented example of metallabenzenes that are stable above
1108C.[4o] To the best of our knowledge, ruthenabenzenes 4,
5, and 6 are the first examples of metallabenzenes with a
metal of the first or the second transition series having such
remarkable thermal stability both in solid state and in solu-
tion under air atmosphere. Thus, it gives new hopes for
future development of our ruthenabenzenes in application
researches, considering that ruthenium complexes are
known for effective catalytic performance, abundant spectral
information, and bioactivities.
Conclusion
The multicyclic complex containing a ruthenabenzene unit 3
was obtained by treatment of ruthenabenzene 1 with excess
8-hydroxyquinoline in the presence of CH3COONa under
4228
www.chemeurj.org
ꢀ 2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
Chem. Eur. J. 2011, 17, 4223 – 4231

New Highly Stable Metallabenzenes
FULL PAPER
Table 3. Crystal data and structure refinement for 3’, 4, 6, and 7.
on an Elementar Analysen Syetem
GmbH Vario EL III instrument. Ab-
sorption and fluorescence spectra were
recorded on a Varian CARY-300 UV/
Vis spectrophotometer and a Hitachi
F-4500 fluorophotometer, respectively.
3’·2.5C2H4Cl2·0.25CH2Cl2
4
6·C2H4Cl2·3.5H2O
7·2H2O
formula
C
130.25H109.50B2Cl5.50N2O2P3Ru C59H45ClN2O2P2
C70H64Cl5NO4.50P3Ru C50H42ClNO3P2
Ru
Mr
2145.27
triclinic
P1
1012.43
monoclinic
P2/c
26.1400(12)
8.6146(3)
22.7498(11)
90
113.643(6)
90
4692.9(4)
4
1.433
0.507
2080
0.30ꢃ0.25ꢃ0.20
2.36–25.00
20664
1362.45
triclinic
802.24
crystal system
space group
a [ꢁ]
b [ꢁ]
c [ꢁ]
triclinic
[Ru
(C9H6NO)
[Ru{CHC(PPh3)CHC
(PPh3)2]Cl (1) (0.40 g, 0.30 mmol) and
8-hydroxyquinoline (65 mg,
A
N
ACHTUNGRTENUN(NG PPh3)CH}Cl-
¯
¯
¯
P1
P1
A
ACHTUNGTRENNUNG
13.9628(4)
17.3434(4)
25.0208(7)
72.775(2)
80.096(2)
84.007(2)
5691.9(3)
2
13.606(3)
14.287(3)
19.144(4)
86.08(3)
69.60(3)
82.76(3)
3458.9(12)
2
1.308
0.536
1402
0.42ꢃ0.25ꢃ0.20
3.02–25.00
44057
9.1489(18)
14.506(3)
15.494(3)
98.60(3)
90.66(3)
96.77(3)
2018.1(7)
2
1.320
0.220
840
0.20ꢃ0.15ꢃ0.10
3.21–25.00
15858
A
R
ACHTUNGTRENNUNG
AHCTUNGTRENNUNG
a [8]
b [8]
0.45 mmol) in CH2Cl2 (10 mL) was
stirred at room temperature for about
g [8]
2 h to give
a brown solution. The
V [ꢁ3]
Z
volume of the mixture was reduced to
ca. 2 mL under vacuum and was puri-
fied by column chromatography (neu-
tral alumina, acetone/methanol 6:1) to
1calcd [gcmÀ3
]
1.252
0.361
2227
m [mmÀ1
(000)
]
F
N
give complex
(0.21 g, 53%). 1H NMR (300.1 MHz,
CDCl3): d=16.8 (dd, (P,H)=15.0,
7.8 Hz, 1H, RuCH), 16.4 (dd, J(P,H)=
2 as a brown solid
crystal size [mm3] 0.50ꢃ0.40ꢃ0.35
q range [8]
2.29–25.00
51149
20020
JACHTUNGTRENNUNG
reflns collected
independent
reflns
ACHTUNGTRENNUNG
8251
12147
7091
17.7, 7.8 Hz, 1H, RuCH), 8.2–6.6 ppm
(m, 52H, PPh3, C9H6NO, RuCHC-
observed reflns
12511
4489
10871
4513
AHCTUNGTRENNUNG
(PPh3)CH); 31P{1H} NMR (202.5 MHz,
A
CDCl3): d=36.4 (RuPPh3), 18.6
(CPPh3), 18.4 ppm (CPPh3); 13C{1H}
NMR (125.8 MHz, CDCl3): d=294.1
(br, RuCH), 289.7 (br, RuCH), 145.5
data/restraints/
params
20020/163/1351
8251/132/598
12147/12/775
7091/0/515
GOF on F2
R1/wR2
1.000
0.856
1.001
0.0575/0.1902
1.001
0.0694/0.1654
0.0688/0.2128
0.0530/0.0785
(t,
(PPh3)CH), 168.1–109.4 (m, PPh3,
C9H6NO), 116.1 (dd, (P,C)=71.3,
13.5 Hz, RuCHC(PPh3)), 114.0 ppm
(dd, (P,C)=73.5, 11.3 Hz, RuCHC-
(PPh3)); elemental analysis calcd (%)
for C68H54NOP3Cl2Ru: 70.04,
4.67, N 1.20; found: C 70.28, H 5.15, N 1.36.
[(C9H6NO)Ru{CHC(PPh3)CHC(PPh3)C}(C9H6NO)
lution of [Ru{CHC(PPh3)CHC(PPh3)CH}Cl2A(PPh3)2]Cl (1) (0.20 g,
0.15 mmol) and 8-hydroxyquinoline (0.10 g, 0.75 mmol) in CH2Cl2 (5 mL)
was added to suspension of CH3COONa (0.12 g, 1.5 mmol) and
J
G
RuCHC-
A
AHCTUNGTRENNUNG
R1/wR2 (all data)
0.1095/0.2259
0.1094/0.0850
0.0628/0.1951
2.374/À0.534
0.1118/0.2027
1.401/À0.731
JACHTUNGTRENNUNG
largest peak/
2.368/À0.690
0.982/À1.090
hole [eꢁÀ3
]
AHCTUNGTRENNUNG
JACHTUNGTRENNUNG
AHCTUNGTRENNUNG
C
H
air atmosphere via the SNAr reaction. The ruthenabenzene 3
can tolerate weak alkali or weak acid in solution. Reaction
of 3 with NaOH or Na2CO3 gave a mixture of ruthenaben-
G
R
G
G
A
ACHTUNGTRENUN(NG PPh3)]Cl2 (3): A so-
A
U
G
CHTUNGTRENNUNG
À
zene complexes 4 and 5, presumably through a P C bond
a
cleavage of the metallacycle. In addition, 3 readily reacted
with HCl to yield ruthenabenzene 6. Thermal stability tests
demonstrated that these new species of metallabenzenes
have remarkable stability both in solid state and in solution
under air atmosphere. Especially, 4, 5 and 6 can be heated
at 1508C for at least five hours without appreciable decom-
position. Complexes 4 and 5 were found to be fluorescent in
solution and have similar spectral behaviors to those organic
multicyclic compounds. It suggested a degree of electron de-
localization within the metallacycle and the 8-hydroxyquino-
line ring, which accorded with the X-ray diffraction study.
CH3OH (1 mL). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature
for 24 h under an air atmosphere to give a green suspension. The solvent
was removed under vacuum and the residue was extracted with CH2Cl2
(3ꢃ5 mL). The volume of the filtrate was reduced to about 1 mL under
vacuum and was purified by column chromatography (neutral alumina,
acetone/methanol 20:1) to give complex 3 as a green solid (0.15 g, 76%).
1H NMR (500.2 MHz, CD2Cl2): d=15.9 (d,
RuCH), 8.8–6.3 (m, 58H, PPh3, C9H6NO, RuCHC
(dd, (P,H)=13.5, 18.5 Hz, 1H, RuCHC
(PPh3)CH); 13C{1H} NMR
(125.8 MHz, CD2Cl2): d=286.6 (br, RuCH), 273.9 (d, J(P,C)=13.8 Hz,
RuC), 154.6 (dd, J(P,C)=24.9, 17.5 Hz, RuCHC(PPh3)CH), 167.2–110.8
(m, PPh3, C9H6NO), 114.0 (dd, (P,C)=78.6, 12.1 Hz, (PPh3)),
103.9 ppm (dd, (P,C)=74.2, 11.3 Hz,
(PPh3)); 31P{1H} NMR
JACHTUNGTRENNUNG
AHCTUNGTRENNUNG
J
N
ACHTUNGTRENNUNG
AHCTUNGTRENNUNG
A
ACHTUNGTRENNUNG
J
N
CACHTUNGTRENNUNG
J
N
CACHTUNGTRENNUNG
(202.5 MHz, CD2Cl2): d=31.7 (RuPPh3), 26.1 (CPPh3), 18.8 ppm
(CPPh3); elemental analysis calcd (%) for C77H59N2O2P3Cl2Ru: C 70.64,
H 4.54, N 2.14; found: C 70.67, H 4.76, N 1.96.
ACHNUTGERT[NGNUN (C9H6NO)RuACHTNUGTREG{UNNN CHCAHCTNUGRTENN(GU PPh3)CHCACHNUTTRGEG(NNUN PPh3)C}ACHUTNTGRENNGU(C9H6NO)ACHNUTGTREG(NNNU PPh3)]ACHTNUGTRENN(GUN BPh4)2 (3’):
Experimental Section
A solution of NaBPh4 (68.4 mg, 0.2 mmol) in CH3OH (0.5 mL) was
added slowly to a solution of complex 3 (0.1 g, 0.08 mmol) in CH3OH
(2 mL). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 5 min
to give a green suspension. The green solid was collected by filtration,
washed with CH3OH (2ꢃ3 mL), and then dried under vacuum (0.13 g,
88%). Elemental analysis calcd (%) for C125H99B2N2O2P3Ru: C 80.00, H
5.32, N 1.49; found: C 80.10, H 5.19, N 1.95.
General comments: All manipulations were carried out at room tempera-
ture under a nitrogen atmosphere using standard Schlenk techniques,
unless otherwise stated. The starting material [Ru
ACHUTGTNNERNUG{CHCCAHTUNGTREN(NUGN PPh3)CHC-
G
CHTUNGTRENNUNG
NMR experiments were performed on a Bruker AV-300 spectrometer
(1H 300.1 MHz; 13C 75.5 MHz; 31P 121.5 MHz), or a Bruker AV-500 spec-
trometer (1H 500.2 MHz; 13C 125.8 MHz; 31P 202.5 MHz). 1H and
13C NMR chemical shifts are relative to TMS, and 31P NMR chemical
shifts are relative to 85% H3PO4. Elemental analyses data were obtained
A
E
E
G
G
(4)
and
A
R
ACHTUNGTRENNUNG
Chem. Eur. J. 2011, 17, 4223 – 4231
ꢀ 2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
www.chemeurj.org
4229

H. Xia, H. Zhang et al.
lution of complex 3 (0.40 g, 0.31 mmol) in CH3OH (15 mL). The reaction
mixture was stirred at room temperature for about 24 h to give a reddish
brown solution. The solvent was removed under vacuum and the residue
was extracted with CH2Cl2 (3ꢃ5 mL). The volume of the filtrate was re-
duced to about 1 mL under vacuum and was purified by column chroma-
tography (neutral alumina, acetone/methanol 20:1) to give complexes 4
and 5 in different color sequentially.
JACHTUNGTRENNU(G P,C)=7.5 Hz, CPPh3); elemental analysis calcd (%) for C50H38ClNOP2:
C 78.37, H 5.00, N 1.83; found: C 77.99, H 5.30, N 2.19.
X-ray crystallography: Crystals suitable for X-ray diffraction were grown
from CH2Cl2 or CH2ClCH2Cl solutions layered with n-hexane for 3’, 4, 6,
and 7 (Table 3). Data collections were performed on an Oxford Gemini S
Ultra or a Rigaku R-AXIS SPIDER IP CCD area detector using graph-
ite-monochromated MoKa radiation (l=0.71073 ꢁ). Multiscan absorption
corrections (SADABS) were applied. All structures were solved by direct
methods, expanded by difference Fourier syntheses, and refined by full-
matrix least-squares on F2 using the Bruker SHELXTL-97 program pack-
age. Non-H atoms were refined anisotropically unless otherwise stated.
Hydrogen atoms were introduced at their geometric positions and refined
as riding atoms. Further details on crystal data, data collection, and re-
finements are summarized in Table 1.
Complex 4 was collected as a yellowish green solid (0.23 g, 73%).
1H NMR plus HMQC (300.1 MHz, CDCl3): d=13.7 (d, J
ACHTUNGTRENNUNG
AHCTUNGTRENNUNG
ACHTUNGTRENNUNG
AHCTUNGTRENNUNG
AHCTUNGTRENNUNG
J
N
JACHTUNGTRENNUNG
CCDC 794265 (3’), 794266 (4),794267 (6) and 794268 (7) contain the sup-
plementary crystallographic data for this paper. These data can be ob-
tained free of charge from The Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre
via www.ccdc.cam.ac.uk/data_request/cif
N
ACHTUNGTRENNUNG
J
A
ACHTUNGTRENNUNG
JACHTUNGTRENNUNG
AHCTUNGTRENNUNG
(%) for C59H45ClN2O2P2Ru: C 69.99, H 4.48, N 2.77; found: C 69.59, H
4.82, N 2.70.
Complex
(300.1 MHz, CDCl3): 1H NMR plus 1H,1H COSY and HMQC
(300.1 MHz, CDCl3): d=15.3 (d, J(H,H)=6.9 Hz, 1H, RuCH), 9.0–6.4
5 was collected as a
green solid (25 mg, 8%). 1H NMR
Acknowledgements
AHCTUNGTRENNUNG
(m, 44H, PPh3, C9H6NO, RuCHCHCH), 7.9 (br, 1H, RuCHCHCH, ob-
scured by the phenyl signals and confirmed by 1H,13C HMQC and 1H,1H
COSY), 7.5 ppm (br, 1H, RuCHCHCH, obscured by the phenyl signals
and confirmed by 1H,13C HMQC); 13C{1H} NMR plus DEPT-135
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of
China (Nos. 20801046 and 20925208) and Research Fund for the Doctor-
al Program of Higher Education of China (Nos. 200803841034 and
20090121110010).
(75.5 MHz, CDCl3): d=281.6 (d, J
ACHTUNGTRENNUNG
J
A
167.9–109.6 (m, PPh3, C9H6NO), 120.7 (d, JACTHUNGTRENNUNG
[1] For recent reviews, see: a) J. R. Bleeke, Acc. Chem. Res. 2007, 40,
1035–1047; b) G. Jia, Coord. Chem. Rev. 2007, 251, 2167–2187;
c) L. J. Wright, Dalton Trans. 2006, 1821–1827; d) C. W. Landorf,
M. M. Haley, Angew. Chem. 2006, 118, 4018–4040; Angew. Chem.
Int. Ed. 2006, 45, 3914–3936; e) G. Jia, Acc. Chem. Res. 2004, 37,
479–486; f) J. R. Bleeke, Chem. Rev. 2001, 101, 1205–1227.
confirmed by 1H,13C HMQC), 96.9 ppm (d,
JACHTUNGTRENNUNG
ACHTUNGTRENNUNG
(PPh3)); 31P{1H} NMR (121.5 MHz, CDCl3): d=35.2 (s, RuPPh3),
23.3 ppm
(s,
CPPh3);
elemental
analysis
calcd
(%)
for
C59H45ClN2O2P2Ru: C 69.99, H 4.48, N 2.77; found: C 69.59, H 4.38, N
2.60.
[Ru
G
E
E
G
G
[2] Recent examples for the synthesis of rhenabenzene: K. C. Poon, L.
Liu, T. Guo, J. Li, H. H. Y. Sung, I. D. Williams, Z. Lin, G. Jia,
Angew. Chem. 2010, 122, 2819–2822; Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2010,
49, 2759–2762.
diethyl ether, 1.5 mL, 1.5 mmol) was added to a solution of complex 3
(0.30 g, 0.23 mmol) in CHCl3 (10 mL). The reaction mixture was stirred
at room temperature for about 4 h to give a deep green solution. The sol-
vent was washed with H2O (3ꢃ5 mL), and the volume of the organic
phase was reduced to ca. 2 mL by evaporation of solvent under vacuum.
Addition of diethyl ether (15 mL) to the residue produced a green solid,
which was collected by filtration, washed with diethyl ether (3ꢃ2 mL)
and dried under vacuum (0.25 g, 91%). 1H NMR (500.2 MHz, CD2Cl2):
[3] Recent examples for the synthesis of osmabenzenes: a) P. M. Johns,
W. R. Roper, S. D. Woodgate, L. J. Wright, Organometallics 2010,
29, 5358–5365; b) J. Huang, R. Lin, L. Wu, Q. Zhao, C. Zhu, T. B.
Wen, H. Xia, Organometallics 2010, 29, 2916–2925; c) B. Liu, H.
Xie, H. Wang, L. Wu, Q. Zhao, J. Chen, T. B. Wen, Z. Cao, H. Xia,
Angew. Chem. 2009, 121, 5569–5572; Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2009,
48, 5461–5464; d) B. Liu, H. Wang, H. Xie, B. Zeng, J. Chen, J. Tao,
T. B. Wen, Z. Cao, H. Xia, Angew. Chem. 2009, 121, 5538–5542;
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2009, 48, 5430–5434; e) H. Zhang, L. Wu, R.
Lin, Q. Zhao, G. He, F. Yang, T. B. Wen, H. Xia, Chem. Eur. J. 2009,
15, 3546–3559; f) L. Gong, Y. Lin, T. B. Wen, H. Xia, Organometal-
lics 2009, 28, 1101–1111; g) M. A. Esteruelas, A. B. Masamunt, M.
Olivꢄn, E. OÇate, M. Valencia, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130, 11612–
11613; h) L. Gong, Y. Lin, T. B. Wen, H. Zhang, B. Zeng, H. Xia,
Organometallics 2008, 27, 2584–2589; i) L. Gong, Y. Lin, G. He, H.
Zhang, H. Wang, T. B. Wen, H. Xia, Organometallics 2008, 27, 309–
311; j) G. He, J. Zhu, W. Y. Hung, T. B. Wen, H. H.-Y. Sung, I. D.
Williams, Z. Lin, G. Jia, Angew. Chem. 2007, 119, 9223–9226;
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2007, 46, 9065–9068; k) G. R. Clark, P. M.
Johns, W. R. Roper, L. J. Wright, Organometallics 2006, 25, 1771–
1777; l) T. B. Wen, W. Y. Hung, H. H. Y. Sung, I. D. Williams, G. Jia,
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 2856–2857; m) H. Xia, G. He, H.
Zhang, T. B. Wen, H. H. Y. Sung, I. D. Williams, G. Jia, J. Am.
Chem. Soc. 2004, 126, 6862–6863; n) P. Barrio, M. A. Esteruelas, E.
OÇate, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2004, 126, 1946–1947; o) T. B. Wen, Z. Y.
Zhou, G. Jia, Angew. Chem. 2001, 113, 2005–2008; Angew. Chem.
Int. Ed. 2001, 40, 1951–1954.
d=16.5 (d,
C9H6NO, RuCHC
scured by the phenyl signals and confirmed by 1H,13C HMQC); 13C{1H}
NMR (75.5 MHz, CDCl3): d=292.6 (d, J(P,C)=13.7 Hz, RuCH), 273.2
(d, J(P,C)=12.8 Hz, RuC), 154.8 (dd, J(P,C)=25.7, 17.7 Hz, RuCHC-
(PPh3)CH), 155.6–118.01 (m, PPh3, C9H6NO), 113.4 (dd, J(P,C)=80.6,
(P,C)=78.6, 11.5 Hz, (PPh3));
G
12.5 Hz,
31P{1H} NMR (202.5 MHz, CD2Cl2): d=46.0 (s, RuPPh3), 24.0 (s, CPPh3),
17.6 ppm (s, CPPh3); elemental analysis calcd (%) for C68H53NOP3Cl3Ru:
C 68.03, H 4.45, N 1.17; found: C 68.19, H 4.75, N 1.27.
[CACHTUNGTRENNUNG(C9H6NO)CACHTUNGTRENNUNG(PPh3)CHCACHTNUGRTENN(UGN PPh3)CH]Cl (7): A solid sample of complex 3
(0.35 g, 0.27 mmol) was heated at 1908C for 5 h. The mixture was solved
in 5 mL of CH2Cl2 to give a green solution. The mixture was purified by
column chromatography (neutral alumina, acetone/methanol 20:1) to
give complex
(500.2 MHz, CDCl3): d=8.8–7.1 (m, 36H; PPh3, C9H6NO), 6.2 (m, 1H,
CC(PPh3)CH), 5.9 ppm (m, 1H, CC(PPh3)CHC
(PPh3)CH); 13C{1H}
NMR (125.8 MHz, CDCl3): d=154.2–113.0 (m, PPh3, C9H6NO), 150.1
(dd, J(P,C)=20.4, 8.9 Hz, CC(PPh3)CHC(PPh3)CH), 127.1 (t, J(P,C)=
13.6 Hz, CC(PPh3)CHC(PPh3)CH), 107.6 (t, (P,C)=13.4 Hz, CC-
(PPh3)CHC(PPh3)CH), 88.2 (dd, (P,C)=113.4, 19.2 Hz, (PPh3)),
85.5 ppm (dd, (P,C)=112.3, 14.4 Hz,
(PPh3)); 31P{1H} NMR
(202.5 MHz, CDCl3): d=14.3 (d, J(P,C)=7.5 Hz, CPPh3), 13.1 ppm (d,
U
G
[4] Recent examples for the synthesis of iridabenzenes: a) A. F. Dale-
brook, L. J. Wright, Organometallics 2009, 28, 5536–5540; b) G. R.
4230
www.chemeurj.org
ꢀ 2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
Chem. Eur. J. 2011, 17, 4223 – 4231

New Highly Stable Metallabenzenes
FULL PAPER
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Received: December 10, 2010
Published online: February 24, 2011
Chem. Eur. J. 2011, 17, 4223 – 4231
ꢀ 2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
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