Carbonyl substitution chemistry of some trimetallic transition metal cluster complexes with polyfunctional ligands

The trimetallic clusters [Ru₃(CO)₁₀(dppm)], [Ru₃(CO)₁₂] and [RuCo₂(CO)₁₁] react with a number of multifunctional secondary phosphine and tertiary arsine ligands to give products consequent on carbonyl substitution and, in the case of the secondary phosphines, PH activation. The reaction with the unresolved mixed P/S donor, 1-phenylphosphino-2-thio(ethane), HSCH₂CH₂PHPh ( LH₂), gave two products under various conditions which have been characterised by spectroscopic and crystallographic means. These two complexes [Ru₃(μ-dppm)(H)(CO)₇(LH)] and [Ru₃(μ-dppm)(H)(CO)₈(LH)Ru₃(μ-dppm)(CO)₉], show the versatility of the ligand, with it chelating in the former and bridging two Ru₃ units in the latter. The stereogenic centres in the molecules gave rise to complicated spectroscopic data which are consistent with the presence of diastereoisomers. In the case of [Ru₃(CO)₁₂] the reaction with LH₂ gave a poor yield of a tetranuclear butterfly cluster, [Ru₄(CO)₁₀(L)₂], in which two of the ligands bridge opposite hinge wingtip bonds of the cluster. A related ligand, HSCH₂CH₂AsMe(C₆H₄CH₂OMe), reacted with [RuCo₂(CO)₁₁] to give a low yield of the heterobimetallic Ru-Co adduct, [RuCo(CO)₆(SCH₂CH₂AsMe(C₆H₄CH₂OMe))], which appears to be the only one of its type so far structurally characterised.The secondary phosphine, HPMe(C₆H₄(CH₂OMe)) and its oxide HP(O)Me(C₆H₄(CH₂OMe)) also react with the cluster [Ru₃(CO)₁₀(dppm)] to give carbonyl substitution products, [Ru₃(CO)₅(dppm)(μ₂-PMe(C₆H₄CH₂OMe))₄], and [Ru₃H(CO)₇(dppm)(μ₂,η¹-P(O)Me(C₆H₄CH₂OMe))]. The former consists of an open Ru₃ triangle with four phosphide ligands bridging the metal-metal bonds; the latter has the O atom symmetrically bridging one Ru-Ru bond, the P atom being attached to a non-bridged Ru atom.