The reaction of [Ru3(CO)12] with bis(diphenylphosphino)amine. The crystal and molecular structure of [Ru3(CO)10(dppa)] and [Ru3(CO)8(dppa)2]

The reaction of [Ru3(CO)12] with bis(diphenylphosphino)amine (dppa) in the presence of sodium benzophenone leads to [Ru3(CO)10(dppa)] in quantitative yield, while the same reaction carried out in refluxing toluene also produces the disubstituted product [Ru3(CO)8(dppa)2]. Both products were characterized spectroscopically and by X-ray crystallography. The five-membered rings, formed by the coordinated ligand and the two metal atoms, show distorted envelope conformations. There are significant differences in the PN bond lengths of each dppa ligand in the disubstituted cluster while they are totally symmetric in the monosubstituted derivative.