An inspection into the class of bis(alkyne)-undecacarbonyl-quadro-tetraruthenium complexes. Crystal structure and dynamic behaviour of Ru₄(CO)₁₁ (μ₄, η²-MeC₂Ph)₂

The reactions of the butterfly complex Ru₄(CO)₁₂(MeC₂Ph) with several alkynes give the quasiplanar derivatives Ru₄(CO)₁₁(MeC₂Ph)(Alkyne) in almost quantitative yields. The structure of Ru₄(CO)₁₁(MeC₂Ph)₂ has been determined by X-ray methods. Crystals are monoclinic, space group C2/c, with Z = 4 in a unit cell of dimensions a 22.383(16), b 9.048(8), c 18.268(12) Å, β = 127.25(4)°. The structure has been solved from diffractometer data by Patterson and Fourier methods and refined by full-matrix least-squares to R = 0.034 for 1420 observed reflections. The complex, having an imposed C₂ symmetry, presents a tetranuclear metal cluster in which the Ru atoms are in a tetrahedrally-distorted square arrangement. Ten carbonyls are terminal and one symmetrically bridges an edge of the cluster. Each of the two alkyne ligands is σ-bonded to two Ru atoms on the opposite vertices of the cluster and π-bonded to the other two. The organometallic cluster has a Ru₄C₄ core in which the metal and carbon atoms occupy the vertices of a triangulated dodecahedron.