Ruthenium-carbon bond

An initial addition of a ruthenium-oxygen double bond to a a-C—H bond leads to an intermediate containing a carbon-ruthenium bond. This bond suffers a homolytic scission leading to a carbon radical, which is oxidized to a carbocation that provides a carbonyl group by deprotonation. 

A different course of events is followed by diynes in the presence of a ruthenium catalyst and water (Scheme 11.88). 2i The mechanism is believed to involve the formation of a ruthenacyclopentadiene 11.268, which is attacked by water at the less-hindered position. Break-up of the ruthenacycle and protonolysis of the carbon-ruthenium bond delivers the product 11.267. 

The most widely used method for adding the elements of hydrogen to carbon-carbon double bonds is catalytic hydrogenation. Except for very sterically hindered alkenes, this reaction usually proceeds rapidly and cleanly. The most common catalysts are various forms of transition metals, particularly platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, and nickel. Both the metals as finely dispersed solids or adsorbed on inert supports such as carbon or alumina (heterogeneous catalysts) and certain soluble complexes of these metals (homogeneous catalysts) exhibit catalytic activity. Depending upon conditions and catalyst, other functional groups are also subject to reduction under these conditions. 

Ruthenium tetroxide is a potent oxidant, however, and it readily attacks carbon-carbon double bonds.19 Primary alcohols are oxidized to carboxylic acids, methyl ethers give methyl esters, and benzyl ethers are oxidized to benzoate esters. 

As shown in the manganese- and ruthenium-catalyzed intermolecular nitrene insertions, most of these results supposed the transfer of a nitrene group from iminoiodanes of formula PhI=NR to substrates that contain a somewhat activated carbon-hydrogen bond (Scheme 14). Allylic or benzylic C-H bonds, C-H bonds a to oxygen, and very recently, Q spz)-Y bonds of heterocycles have been the preferred reaction sites for the above catalytic systems, whereas very few examples of the tosylamidation of unactivated C-H bonds have been reported to date. 

Addition of disulfides to carbon-carbon double bonds is catalyzed by ruthenium complexes (Equation (71)).204 Even relatively less reactive dialkyl disulfides add to norbornene with high stereoselectivity in the presence of a catalytic amount of Cp RuCl(cod). Diphenyl disulfide adds to ethylene and terminal alkenes under identical conditions (Equation (72)). 

Scheme 10. Moss s convergent construction of organometallic dendrimers containing ruthenium-carbon o-bonds.

C-M bond addition, for C-C bond formation, 10, 403-491 iridium additions, 10, 456 nickel additions, 10, 463 niobium additions, 10, 427 osmium additions, 10, 445 palladium additions, 10, 468 rhodium additions, 10, 455 ruthenium additions, 10, 444 Sc and Y additions, 10, 405 tantalum additions, 10, 429 titanium additions, 10, 421 vanadium additions, 10, 426 zirconium additions, 10, 424 Carbon-oxygen bond formation via alkyne hydration, 10, 678 for aryl and alkenyl ethers, 10, 650 via cobalt-mediated propargylic etherification, 10, 665 Cu-mediated, with borons, 9, 219 cycloetherification, 10, 673 etherification, 10, 669, 10, 685 via hydro- and alkylative alkoxylation, 10, 683 via inter- andd intramolecular hydroalkoxylation, 10, 672 via metal vinylidenes, 10, 676 via SnI and S Z processes, 10, 684 via transition metal rc-arene complexes, 10, 685 via transition metal-mediated etherification, overview,... 

There are two well-characterized examples of a naked carbon atom bound by a triple bond to a metal center (Fig 14.3.8). The molybdenum carbide anion [CMo N(R)Ar 3]- (R = C(CD3)2(CH3), Ar = C6H3Me2-3,5), an isoelectronic analog of NMo N(R)Ar 3, can be prepared in a multistep procedure via deprotonation of the d° methylidyne complex HCMo N(R)Ar 3. The Mo=C distance of 171.3(9) pm is at the low end of the known range for molybdenum-carbon multiple bonds. In the diamagnetic, air-stable terminal ruthenium carbide complex Ru(=C )C12(LL/)(L = L = PCy3, or L = PCy3 and L = l,3-dimesityl-4,5-dihydroimidazol-2-ylidene), the measured Ru-C distance of 165.0(2) pm is consistent with the existence of a very short Ru=C triple bond. 

Most of the recent synthetic applications of M-RCM involve one of the above catalysts, particularly G1 or G2, chosen as a function of its own reactivity profile, generally after preliminary reaction assays on the genuine substrate or specific model compounds. The sensitivity of the RCM reaction to steric hindrance is well established. These ruthenium catalysts exhibit high affinity for carbon-carbon double bonds and are compatible with the presence of many functional groups, even the presence of free polar hydroxyl or amino groups. Their use does not require special conditions such as glove boxes, which are required when using Schrock s molybdenum catalyst. 

The resulting extraordinary stability of NHC-metal complexes has been utilized in many challenging applications. However, an increasing number of publications report that the metal-carbene bond is not inert [30-38]. For example, the migratory insertion of an NHC into a ruthenium-carbon double bond [30], the reductive elimination of alkylimidazolium salts from NHC alkyl complexes [37] or the ligand substitution of NHC ligands by phosphines [36,38] was described. In addition, the formation of palladium black is frequently observed in applications of palladium NHC complexes, also pointing at decomposition pathways. 

---