A Ruthenium-Based Catalyst System for Hydrovinylation at Room Temperature

A catalytic amount of RuHCl(CO)(PCy 3 ) 2 ( 1 ) activated with AgOTF or AgSbF 6 at room temperature was found to be an effective catalyst system for the hydrovinylation of vinylarenes. Vinylarenes with both electron-donating and electron-withdrawing substituents reacted with ethylene at room temperature to provide the desired 3-arylbutenes in moderate to excellent yield (60−99%) under mild reaction conditions.