Reactions of 1,2,3-Triphenyl-1,2,3-triphosphaindan with Triruthenium Cluster.

Reactions of 1,2,3-triphenyl-1,2,3-triphosphaindan ( I ), C 6 H 4 (PPh) 3 , with [Ru 3 (CO) 12 ] under various conditions result in the rupture of the P 3 C 2 -ring framework in the ligand and the cleavage of the M--M bonds in the parent cluster, leading to the formation of a series of phosphido bridged and phosphinidene capped trinuclear or polyhedral ruthenium clusters: a tetra-nuclear butterfly-like cluster [Ru 4 (CO) 10 (μ 3 -PPh)] 1 , a tri-nuclear bent-chain skeleton cluster [Ru 3 (CO) 9 {μ 3 -η 3 -PPhC 6 H 4 (PPh) 2 }] 2 , and a nonplanar six-atom-raft rhombic geometry cluster [Ru 6 (CO) 12 (μ 3 -PPh)(μ 4 -PPh) 2 (μ 3 -η 2 -C 6 H 4 )] 3 . All compounds have been fully characterized by spectroscopic methods, while the molecular structures of the new compounds 2 and 3 are established by X-ray crystallographic techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]