Substituted tertiary phosphine Ru(II) organometallics: Catalytic utility on the hydrolysis of etofibrate in pharmaceuticals

Some new organometallics of ruthenium(II) of the type [RuCl2(COD)(CO)L] (1a–f) and [RuCl2(COD)L2] (2a–f) (where L is substituted tertiary phosphines), have been synthesized by using precursors [RuCl2(COD)(CO)(CH3CN)] (1) and [RuCl2(COD)(CH3CN)2] (2) with the substituted tertiary phosphine ligands in 1:1 and 1:2 molar ratio. The organometallics (2a–f) have been further reacted with carbonmonoxide to produce compounds of the type [RuCl2(CO)L2] (3a–f). These compounds were characterized by elemental analysis, IR, NMR (1H, 13C and 31P), mass and electronic spectral data. The catalytic activity of all these organometallics were studied and found that they are efficient catalysts for hydrolysis of etofibrate. The hydrolyzed product was separated by column chromatography and the percent yields are found in the range of 98.6–99.1%.