A Ruthenium Dihydrogen Germylene Complex and the Catalytic Synthesis of Digermoxane

A germylene complex with a labile eta(2)-H-2 coligand, [RuH2(=GePh2)(eta(2)-H-2)(PCy3)(2)] (2), was isolated in very good yield from the reaction of the bis(dihydrogen) complex [RuH2(eta(2)-H-2)(2)(PCy3)(2)] (1) with Ph2GeH2. The hydrolytic synthesis of 1,1,3,3-tetraphenyldigermoxane, (HPh2Ge)(2)O, was catalyzed by 2, 1, and the tricydopentyl-phosphine analogue 1(cyp). Coordination of digermoxane by ruthenium led to a complex best formulated as [RuH2({eta(2)-H-GePh2}(2)O)(PCy3)(2)] on the basis of X-ray, NMR, IR, and DFT studies.