Alkyne insertion and coupling reactions mediated by the cycloheptatrienyl-bridged heterobimetallic complexes (μ-C7H7)Ru(CO)3M′(CO)2 (M′ = Rh, Ir)

•Hexafluoro-2-butyne undergoes insertion with a cycloheptatrienyl-bridged RuRh complex.•Hexafluoro-2-butyne coupling and insertion occurs with (cycloheptatrienyl)RuIr(CO)5.•(cycloheptatrienyl)RuRh(CO)5 shows greater reactivity than the analogous RuIr complex.

Cycloheptatrienyl-bridged RuRh and RuIr pentacarbonyl complexes were found to undergo metal–carbon and carbon–carbon bond-forming reactions with hexafluoro-2-butyne to afford products in which coupling of the alkyne and cycloheptatrienyl group had occurred. Reaction of the RuRh complex occurred readily at room temperature whereas the RuIr complex required thermal activation of 100 °C, which resulted in incorporation of two alkyne units into the product.

Graphical abstractCycloheptatrienyl-bridged RuRh and RuIr pentacarbonyl complexes were found to undergo metal–carbon and carbon–carbon bond-forming reactions with hexafluoro-2-butyne to afford products in which coupling of the alkyne and cycloheptatrienyl group had occurred.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide