Reactions of bis(tricarbido)mercurials and dimetallaoctatetraynes with [Ru(CO)2(PPh3)3]:: Scission of a Csp-Csp single bond

The reactions of [L(CO)(2)WC6W(CO)(2)L] (L = HB(pz)(3), HB(pz')(3); pz = pyrazol-1-yl, pz' = dimethylpyrazol-1-yl) with [Ru(CO)(2)(PPh3)(3)] provide the bis(tricarbido) complexes [(Ph3P)(2)(CO)(2)RU{C3W(CO)(2)L}2] via the adduct [(Ph3P)(2)(CO)(2)RU{eta(2)-L(CO)(2)WC6W(CO)(2)L}], which, along with [(Ph3P)(2)(CO)(2)Ru{C3W(CO)(2)L}{HgC3W(CO)(2)L}], is observed as an intermediate in the reactions of [Ru(CO)(2)(PPh3)(3)] with [Hg {C3W(CO)(2)L}(2)] that also ultimately provide the bis(carbido) complex.