Extremely Facile Arene Exchange on a Ruthenium(II) Complex Having a Novel Bis(silyl) Chelate Ligand (9,9-Dimethylxanthene-4,5-diyl)bis(dimethylsilyl) (Xantsil)

Thermolysis of Ru 3 (CO) 12 in the presence of 4,5-bis(dimethylsilyl)-9,9-dimethylxanthene (xantsilH 2 ) ( 1 ) at 120 °C afforded cis -Ru(CO) 4 (xantsil) [ 2; xantsil = (9,9-dimethylxanthene-4,5-diyl)bis(dimethylsilyl)] as a main product. Isolated 2 reacted with toluene on reflux to give cis -Ru(CO)(xantsil)(η 6 -C 6 H 5 CH 3 ) ( 3 ). The η 6 -toluene ligand of 3 was cleanly replaced with η 6 -benzene at room temperature by simply dissolving 3 in benzene.