Reactions of ruthenium hydrides with ethyl-vinyl sulfide

The Ru-hydride precursors (Im(OMe)(2))(PPh3)(2)RuHCl (1) and (Me(2)Im(OMe)(2))(PPh3)(2)RuHCl (2) reacted with ethyl-vinyl-sulfide to give ((MeOCH2CH2) C3H2N2(CH2CH(OMe)) RuCl(PPh3)(2) (3) and ((MeOCH2CH2)C3Me2N2(CH2CH(OMe)) RuCl(PPh3)(2) (4), respectively. Dissolution of (4) in C6D6 prompts formation of ((MeOCH2CH2) C5H6N2(CHCH) RuCl(PPh3)(2) (5). The analogous reactions of the bis-carbene Ru-hydride precursors (Im(OMe)(2))(IMes)(PPh3) RuHCl (6), (Im(OMe)(2))(SIMes)(PPh3) RuHCl (7) and (Im(OMe)(2))(IMes-Cl-2)(PPh3) RuHCl (8) gave ((MeOCH2CH2) C3H2N2(CHCH) RuCl(PPh3)(NHC) (NHC = IMes (9), SIMes (10), IMesCl(2) (11), respectively. The formation of compounds (3-5) and (9-11) is thought to go through an initial insertion of the vinyl-fragment into the Ru-H prompting subsequent C-H activation and loss of diethyl sulfide. This yields (3) and (4), while subsequent loss of methanol yields (5) and (9-11).