Vinyl complexes of diruthenium(IV) thiolates

Treatment of [Et4N][RuCl4(MeCN)2] with 2,4,6-trimethylthiophenol (HSMes) in the presence of NaOMe afforded the trigonal–bipyramidal ruthenium(IV) complex [Ru(SMes)4(MeCN)] (1), which reacted with propargylic alcohols HCtriple bond; length of mdashCCR2OH (R = Me, Et) at ambient temperature to give the novel vinyl complexes of diruthenium(IV) thiolates [(μ-SMes)Ru{η1-O,η1-C-OCR2CHdouble bond; length as m-dashC(SMes)}(SMes)]2 (R = Me 2, Et 3). The crystal structures of 2 and 3 have been determined. The Ru−Cα bond distances are 2.011(3) and 2.023(5) Å for 2 and 3, respectively.