Room-temperature cyclometallation of amines, imines and oxazolines with MCl2Cp*2(M = Rh, Ir) and RuCl2(p-cymene)2

N, N-Dimethylbenzylamine, alkyl and aryl imines derived from benzaldehyde, and 2-phenyl-4, 4-dimethyloxazoline all undergo cyclometallation with IrCl2Cp*2 (Cp* = η-C5Me5) when treated with NaOAc in dichloromethane at room temperature. The imines are also cyclometallated by RhCl2Cp*2 under the same conditions whilst only N-alkyl imines are cyclometallated by RuCl2 (p-cymene) 2. The role of acetate in the cyclometallation is more than just as a base. X-Ray structures of cyclometallated complexes MClC6H4-2-C (H) NCH2CH2OMe-κC, N (η-ring) (M = Ir, Rh ring = Cp*; M = Ru, ring = p-cymene), MClC6H4-2-C (H) NCH2CH2OMe-κC, NCp* (M = Ir, Rh), RuCl (η2-O2CMe) (p-cymene) and IrCl2 (NH2Ph) Cp* are reported.