Appearance Red solid | ||
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(Cymene)ruthenium dichloride dimer is the organometallic compound with the formula [(cymene)RuCl2]2. This red-coloured, diamagnetic solid is a reagent in organometallic chemistry and homogeneous catalysis.
Contents
Preparation and reactions
The dimer is prepared by the reaction of the phellandrene with hydrated ruthenium trichloride. In solution, [(cymene)RuCl2]2 exchanges with other arenes, releasing free p-cymene.
(Cymene)ruthenium dichloride dimer reacts with Lewis bases to give monometallic adducts:
[(cymene)RuCl2]2 + 2 PPh3 → 2 (cymene)RuCl2(PPh3)Such monomers adopt pseudo-octahedral piano-stool structures.
Precursor to catalysts
Treatment of [(cymene)RuCl2]2 with the chelating ligand TsDPENH. The product (cymene)Ru(TsDPEN-H) is a catalyst for asymmetric transfer hydrogenation.
[(cymene)RuCl2]2 is also used to prepare catalysts (by monomerization with dppf) used in borrowing hydrogen catalysis, a catalytic reaction that is based on the activation of alcohols towards nucleophilic attack.