Coordination and Activation of Diazoalkanes in the Presence of Rh/Ru and Rh/Os Metal Combinations

The substituted diazoalkanes—ethyl diazoacetate (EDA), diethyl diazomalonate (DEDM), and trimethylsilyl diazomethane (TMSDM)—react readily with the methylene-bridged tricarbonyl species [RhM(CO)3(μ-CH2)(dppm)2][CF3SO3] (M = Os (5), Ru (6); dppm = μ-Ph2PCH2PPh2) to produce the corresponding substituted olefin (through loss of N2 and subsequent coupling of the diazoalkane-generated alkylidene fragment and the methylene unit), the known tetracarbonyl species [RhM(CO)4(dppm)2][CF3SO3] (M = Os (1), Ru (2)), and uncharacterized decomposition products. In the reaction of 5 with EDA at −20 °C the intermediate olefin adduct, [RhOs(CO)3(η2-CH2-CHR)(dppm)2][CF3SO3] (7; R = CO2Et) is observed, which decomposes with release of the olefin upon warming. The methylene-bridged tetracarbonyl species [RhM(CO)4(μ-CH2)(dppm)2][CF3SO3] (M = Os(3), Ru (4)) also react with these diazoalkanes to yield the same products, only at a much slower rate. Attempts to generate the alkylidene-bridged products, analogous to 3 and 4, by reac...