Synthesis,Characterization and Crystal Structures of New Difurylphosphido-bridged Dinuclear Ruthenium Carbonyl Complexes Derived from Ferrocenylacetylene Ligands

The difurylphosphido-bridged dinuclear complex [Ru₂(CO)₆(μ-PFu₂)(μ-η¹,η²-Fu)] (Fu = 2-furyl) 1 readily reacts with two equivalents of each of the terminal alkynes HC≡CR (R = Fc, p-C₆H₄Fc, p-C₆H₄NO₂, Fc = Fe(η⁵-C₅H₅)(η⁵-C₅H₄)) by an interesting head-to-tail ynyl coupling with a furan group to form a series of phosphido-bridged diruthenium compounds containing a novel furyl-substituted C₄ hydrocarbyl chain of stoichiometry [Ru₂(CO)₄(μ-PFu₂){μ-η¹,η¹,η²,η³-RCC(H)C(R)C(H)Fu}] (R = Fc 2, p-C₆H₄Fc 3, p-C₆H₄NO₂ 4) in moderate to good yields. Reaction of 1 with an equimolar amount of HC≡CFc and HC≡C(p-C₆H₄NO₂) afforded a pair of isomers of [Ru₂(CO)₄(μ-PFu₂){μ-η¹,η¹,η²,η³-R¹CC(H)C(R²)C(H)Fu}] (R¹ = Fc, R² = p-C₆H₄NO₂ 5a; R¹ = p-C₆H₄NO₂, R² = Fc 5b) together with a small mixture of 4. X-ray crystal structures of 2, 3, 5a and 5b are reported. All of these new alkyne-derived dinuclear complexes are electron precise with 34 cluster valence electrons in which the μ-η¹,η²-furyl ligand acts as a three-electron donor and the μ-phosphido Ru₂ framework is retained in the products upon alkyne coupling reactions. The resulting organic fragment of each complex is coordinated to the Ru atoms via a π, a π-allyl and two σ bonds, and donates seven electrons to the metal core. Dedicated to the memory of Professor F. Albert Cotton.