Activation and Dehydrogenative Silylation of the C–H Bonds of Phosphine-coordinated Ruthenium in Lu/Ru Heteromultimetallic Hydride Complexes

The reaction of half-sandwich lutetium dialkyl complex Cp∗Lu(CH2SiMe3)2(THF) (Cp∗= C5Me5) with ruthenium–trihydrido–phosphine complexes Cp∗Ru(PR3)H3 (R3 = Ph3, Ph2Me, PhMe2, and Me3) at 50 °C afforded the corresponding Lu/Ru heterobimetallic dihydride complexes, which was accompanied by selective C–H bond activation of the phosphine ligand. The reaction of such a resulting phosphinomethyl-bridged Lu/Ru complex with PhSiH3 led to selective dehydrogenative silylation at the “CH2” unit.