A SIMPLE AND CONVENIENT SYNTHESIS OF CIS TRANS-RUH2(PH2PCH2PPH2)(2) AND OF TRANS-RUHCL(PH2PCH2PPH2)(2)/

Treatment of a suspension of cis-RuCl2(Ph2PCH2PPh2)(2) in ethanol or 2 -propanol with a large excess of KOH leads, in a very clean reaction a nd in less than 2 min when ethanol is used, to the formation of cis/tr ans-RuH2(Ph2PCH2PPh2)(2) in yields of up to 90%. Similar treatment of the cis-dichloro complex with a small excess of KOH gives, over a long er period, trans-RuHCl(Ph2PCH2PPh2)(2) in 64% yield and this complex c an, in turn, be converted under similar conditions into the cis/trans- dihydride in moderate yields. trans-RuCl2(Ph2PCH2Ph2)(2) is unreactive under these conditions. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights res erved.