Novel regioselection in insertion of a 1,4-disubstituted-1,3-enyne into ruthenium–hydrogen bonds

Abstract

The reaction of a conjugated enyne, cis-(Me₃Si)CHCHCCSiMe₃, with [RuCl(CO)H(PPh₃)₃] gives a quantitative yield of a stable complex whose molecular structure is formally regarded as the result of either 1,2-addition of the H–Ru to the double bond or 1,4-addition of the H–Ru to the conjugated enyne; the former bonding scheme operates when the enyne is hydrogenated by [Ru(CO)H₂(PPh₃)₃] or [RuH₂(PPh₃)₄], the sole product being Me₃SiCH₂CH₂CCSiMe₃.