η6-Arene complexes of ruthenium and osmium with pendant donor functionalities

Conversion of 4′-(2,5-dihydrophenyl)butanol or N-trifluoroacetyl-2,5-dihydrobenzylamine with MCl3·n H2O (M = Ru, Os) affords the corresponding dimeric η6-arene complexes in good to excellent yields. Under similar reaction conditions, the amine functionalized arene precursor 2,5-dihydrobenzylamine yields the corresponding Ru(II) complex. For osmium, HCl induced oxidation leads to formation of [OsCl6]2− salts. However, under optimized reaction conditions, conversion of the precursor 2,5-dihydrobenzylamine chloride results in clean formation of η6-arene Os(II) complex. X-ray structures of [(η6-benzyl ammonium)(dmso)RuCl2] and (2,5-dihydrobenzyl ammonium)4[OsCl6]2confirm the spectroscopic data. High stability towards air and acid as well as enhanced solubility in water is observed for all η6-arene complexes.