SYNTHESIS OF A NEW HETEROBINUCLEAR IRON RUTHENIUM COMPLEX, (CO)3FE(MU-ETA-4-C(O)C(PH)=C=CH2)RU(CO)CP, AND ITS REACTIONS TO GIVE TRINUCLEAR METAL-CLUSTERS

The reaction of the new ruthenium-propargyl complex PhC=CCH2Ru(CO)2Cp (1) with Fe2(CO)9 in THF at 0 °C or in diethyl ether at reflux temperature affords a novel heterobinuclear metal-(allenylcarbonyl) complex, [inline-formula omitted](CO)Cp (2), as the major product. In contrast, reaction between PhC=CCH2Fe(CO)2Cp and Fe2(CO)9 yields (CO)3Fe[η4-C(O)C-(Ph)=C(Fe(CO)2Cp)=CH2] (4). A mechanism for the formation of 2 and 4 is proposed which is somewhat analogous to that for [3 + 2] cycloaddition reactions of metal-propargyl complexes with neutral electrophiles. 2 reacts with Fe2(CO)9 to give the trinuclear Fe2Ru clusters Fe2(CO)6RuCp(µ2-CO)2(µ3-η1-CCH=CHPh) (3) and Fe2-(CO)6Ru(CO)Cp(η3-η3-C(Ph)=C=CH2) (5) as the major products and with Pt(PPh3)2(C2H4) to afford two FeRuPt complexes. The structures of 2, 4, and 5 were determined by X-ray crystallography. © 1990, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.