Chloro(1-{3-[2-(diphenylphosphanyl-κP)ethyl]-η6-benzyl}-3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrazole-κN2)ruthenium(II) trifluoromethanesulfonate

Abstract

To address the question of the role of chirality at the metal in enantioselective catalysis, a pseudo-tetrahedral three-legged piano-stool complex has been prepared, i.e. [RuCl(C26H27N2P)](CF3SO3). Anchoring a phosphine and a pyrazole tether to an arene (PArN) yields, after η6:η1:η1 coordination to ruthenium, [{η6:η1:η1-(PArN)}RuCl]+ as a 1:1 mixture of enantiomers. Unfortunately, all attempts to resolve the enantiomers failed. The structure solution revealed the presence of racemic crystals.