Ruthenium complexes carbon donor ligands

RuCl2(PPh3)2 reacts with 4-R2P-dibenzothiophene (R = Ph, p-Tol) and forms 303, in which the dibenzothiophene ligand is coordinated to ruthenium via the phosphorus and sulfur atoms [84JA5379, 87JOM(318)409]. The donor ability of the sulfur atom is relatively weak. Complex 303 (R = Ph) is able to add carbon monoxide and yield the monocarbonyl adduct. 

Catalytic asymmetric Michael addition is an important reaction for creating carbon-carbon bonds with enantioselectivity. This reaction can be combined with other catalytic transformations to build up complex organic structures. A successful example is the enantioselective cascade Michael addition/H -hydrogenation catalyzed by ruthenium hydride borohydride complexes containing P-aminophosphine ligands 26 (Scheme 5.13) [19]. This approach has been extended to pentenones, heptenones, and nitrostyrene Michael acceptors and malonitrile Michael donors. 

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