Cyclisation of Allenylidene Ligands to Indenyl Groups on Ruthenium Clusters

Thermolysis of Ru₃ cluster complexes containing diarylallenylidene and dppm ligands results in phenyl migration from dppm to the allenylidene with concomitant H migration and C–C bond formation reactions to give several complexes each containing a cluster-bound indenyl group. In initially-formed complexes 3 or 6, the diarylindenyl group is attached to the cluster by two localized C=C double bonds of one aryl group and a benzylic interaction of the remaining C=C double bond combined with one carbon of the five-membered ring. Thermal rearrangement of these complexes with concomitant loss of CO gives 4 or 7, respectively, in which the indenyl group is more symmetrically bonded to the cluster by two C=C double bonds from the six-membered ring and an ⁵-interaction from the five-membered ring, both of the indenyl ligand. The X-ray crystal structure determination of Ru₃( ₃-PPhCH₂PPh₂)( ₃-C₉H₅Ph₂)(CO)₅ (4) is reported. A related reaction was found between Ru₃(-H)(-CCCPh₂)(-OH)(CO)₉ and Co₂(CO)₈, which afforded CoRu₃( ₃-C₉H₆Ph) (-CO)₄(CO)₅ (8), also structurally characterized, in which the indenyl group caps the Ru₃ face of a CoRu₃ tetrahedron; unusually, there are four CO groups bridging the three Co–Ru bonds.