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Updated: Jun 22, 2026

Heterogeneous Removal of Water-Soluble Ruthenium Olefin Metathesis Catalyst from Aqueous Media Via Host-Guest Interaction
Published on: August 23, 2018
CO assistance in ligand exchange of a ruthenium racemization catalyst: identification of an acyl intermediate
Jenny B Aberg1, Jonas Nyhlén, Belén Martín-Matute
1Department of Organic Chemistry, Arrhenius Laboratory, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.
Abstract:
An acyl intermediate in the activation of eta(5)-(Ph(5)Cp)Ru(CO)(2)Cl by t-BuOK was identified by means of in situ FT-IR measurements and NMR spectroscopy. This strongly supports the conclusion that the ligand exchange takes place via CO assistance, i.e., that the activation occurs via nucleophilic attack by tert-butoxide on one of the CO ligands. The tert-butoxycarbonyl intermediate shows stretching vibrations at 1933 and 1596 cm(-1), corresponding to the CO and COOt-Bu groups, respectively. In the (13)C NMR spectrum, the CO group appears at 209.5 ppm and the COOt-Bu group at 208.7 ppm. The NMR assignments were confirmed by density functional theory calculations. The subsequent alcohol-alkoxide exchange is also thought to take place via CO assistance. However, no intermediate in that step could be detected.
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