Syntheses of ketonated disulfide-bridged diruthenium complexes via C-H bond activation and C-S bond formation.

The α-C−H bonds of 3-methyl-2-butanone, 3-pentanone, and 2-methyl-3-pentanone were activated on the sulfur center of the disulfide-bridged ruthenium dinuclear complex [{RuCl(P(OCH3)3)2}2(μ-S2)(μ-Cl)2] (1) in the presence of AgX (X = PF6, SbF6) with concomitant formation of C−S bonds to give the corresponding ketonated complexes [{Ru(CH3CN)2(P(OCH3)3)2}(μ-SSCHR1COR2){Ru(CH3CN)3(P(OCH3)3)2}]X3 ([5](PF6)3, R1 = H, R2 = CH(CH3)2, X = PF6; [6](PF6)3, R1 = CH3, R2 = CH2CH3, X = PF6; [7](SbF6)3, R1 = CH3, R2 = CH(CH3)2, X = SbF6). For unsymmetric ketones, the primary or the secondary carbon of the α-C−H bond, rather than the tertiary carbon, is preferentially bound to one of the two bridging sulfur atoms. The α-C−H bond of the cyclic ketone cyclohexanone was cleaved to give the complex [{Ru(CH3CN)2(P(OCH3)3)2}(μ-SS-1-cyclohexanon-2-yl){Ru(CH3CN)3(P(OCH3)3)2}](SbF6)3 ([8](SbF6)3). And the reactions of acetophenone and p-methoxyacetophenone, respectively, with the chloride-free complex [{Ru(CH3CN)3(P(OCH3)3)2}2(μ-...