Organometallics 2003, 22, 1779-1782
1779
Rea ction s of [Cp *Ru Cl(P P )] (P P ) d p p m , d p p e) w ith
Na BAr ′4: Str u ctu r a l Ch a r a cter iza tion of
[{Cp *Ru }2(µ-Cl)(µ-d p p m )2][BAr ′4] a n d of
[Cp *Ru (N2)(d p p m )][BAr ′4] (Ar ′ ) 3,5-C6H3(CF 3)2)
Halikhedkar Aneetha, Manuel J ime´nez-Tenorio, M. Carmen Puerta, and
Pedro Valerga*
Departamento de Ciencia de Materiales e Ingenier´ıa Metalu´rgica y Quı´mica Inorga´nica,
Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Ca´diz, 11510 Puerto Real, Ca´diz, Spain
Kurt Mereiter
Institute of Chemical Technologies and Analytics, Vienna University of Technology,
Getreidemarkt 9, A-1060 Vienna, Austria
Received October 22, 2002
Summary: The reaction of [Cp*RuCl(dppm)] with Na-
BAr′4 in fluorobenzene under argon generates the bi-
nuclear complex [{Cp*Ru}2(µ-Cl)(µ-dppm)2][BAr′4], which
has been structurally characterized. No complex was
isolated from the reaction of [Cp*RuCl(dppe)] with
NaBAr′4 under argon, but halide abstraction from
[Cp*RuCl(PP)] (PP ) dppm, dppe) under dinitrogen
using NaBAr′4 yielded the corresponding cationic ter-
minal dinitrogen complexes [Cp*Ru(N2)(PP)][BAr′4].
known systems, namely [Cp*RuCl(dppm)] and [Cp*RuCl-
(dppe)], toward NaBAr′4 in fluorobenzene both under
argon and under dinitrogen. Despite the fact that the
moieties {[Cp*Ru(dppm)]+} and {[Cp*Ru(dppe)]+} can
be generated in situ and constitute binding sites for a
range of small molecules such as dihydrogen,3 dioxy-
gen,4,5 and dinitrogen,6 no cationic 16-electron species
could be isolated. In this note we describe the outcome
of these experiments, which complete our works on this
subject.1,2
In tr od u ction
Exp er im en ta l Section
The introduction of the noncoordinating anion [BAr′4]-
(BAr′4 ) tetrakis(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)borate)
as halide scavenger has recently allowed the isolation
of a series of coordinatively unsaturated cationic com-
plexes of the type [Cp*Ru(PP)][BAr′4] (PP ) 1,2-bis-
(diisopropylphosphino)ethane (dippe), (PMeiPr2)2, (PEt3)2,
(PPhiPr2)2, (PPh3)2).1 Whereas some of these compounds
have been subjected to X-ray structure analysis, others
decomposed readily to a variety of final products, most
often to species containing η6-arene moieties. In an
attempt to synthesize the Cp counterparts of these
complexes, we carried out the reaction of [CpRuCl(PP)]
(PP ) dippe, (PMeiPr2)2, (PEt3)2) with NaBAr′4 under
Ar. However, in these cases, the 16-electron species were
too reactive to be detected, as they react with traces of
N2 present in the argon, furnishing the dinitrogen-
bridged complexes [{CpRu(PP)}2(µ-N2)][BAr′4]2. Only
the reaction of [CpRuCl(PMeiPr2)(PPh3)] with NaBAr′4
under Ar yielded a cationic compound of formula [CpRu-
(PMeiPr2)(PPh3)][BAr′4], which however turned out to
be an 18-electron complex containing a rare η3-PPh3
ligand.2 To finish the survey of the range of phosphine
ligands capable of stabilizing cationic 16-electron spe-
cies, we have now examined the reactivity of two well-
All synthetic operations were performed under a dry dini-
trogen or argon atmosphere by following conventional Schlenk
techniques. Tetrahydrofuran, diethyl ether, and petroleum
ether (boiling point range 40-60 °C) were distilled from the
appropriate drying agents. Solvents were deoxygenated by
three freeze/pump/thaw cycles and stored under argon. Na-
[BAr′4],7 [Cp*RuCl(dppm)],8 and [Cp*RuCl(dppe)]4a were pre-
pared according to reported procedures. IR spectra were
recorded in Nujol mulls on a Perkin-Elmer FTIR Spectrum
1000 spectrophotometer. NMR spectra were obtained on
Varian Unity 400 MHz or Varian Gemini 200 MHz equipment.
Chemical shifts are given in parts per million from SiMe4 (1H)
or 85% H3PO4 (31P{1H}). Microanalysis was performed by the
Serveis Cient´ıfico-Te`cnics, Universitat de Barcelona.
[{Cp *Ru }2(µ-Cl)(µ-d p p m )2][BAr ′4] (1). To a solution of
[Cp*RuCl(dppm)] (0.33 g, 0.5 mmol) in fluorobenzene (15 mL)
under argon was added solid NaBAr′4 (0.44 g, 0.5 mmol). The
mixture was stirred for 15 min at room temperature. The
initial yellow-orange solution was converted to a red suspen-
sion. Sodium chloride was removed by filtration through Celite.
The resulting solution was layered with petroleum ether and
(3) (a) J ia, G.; Lough, A. J .; Morris, R. H. Organometallics 1992,
11, 161. (b) Klooster, W. T.; Koetzle, T. F.; J ia, G.; Fong, T. P.; Morris,
R. H.; Albinati, A. J . Am. Chem. Soc. 1994, 116, 7677.
(4) (a) Mauthner, K.; Mereiter, K.; Schmid, R.; Kirchner, K. Inorg.
Chim. Acta 1995, 236, 95. (b) Kirchner, K.; Mauthner, K.; Mereiter,
K.; Schmid, R. J . Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun. 1993, 892.
(5) J ia, G.; Ng, W. S.; Chu, H. S.; Wong, W.-T.; Yu, N.-T.; Williams,
I. D. Organometallics 1999, 18, 3597.
(6) Hembre, R. T.; McQueen, S. J . Am. Chem. Soc. 1994, 116, 2141.
(7) Brookhart, M.; Grant, B.; Volpe, A. F., J r. Organometallics 1992,
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* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
pedro.valerga@uca.es.
(1) (a) J ime´nez-Tenorio, M.; Mereiter, K.; Puerta, M. C.; Valerga,
P. J . Am. Chem. Soc. 2000, 122, 11230. (b) Aneetha, H.; J ime´nez-
Tenorio, M.; Puerta, M. C.; Valerga, P.; Sapunov, V. N.; Schmid, R.;
Kirchner, K.; Mereiter, K. Organometallics 2002, 21, 5334.
(2) Aneetha, H.; J ime´nez-Tenorio, M.; Puerta, M. C.; Valerga, P.;
Mereiter, K. Organometallics 2002, 21, 628.
10.1021/om020880l CCC: $25.00 © 2003 American Chemical Society
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