Synthesis and crystal structure of tetracarbonyl(triphenylstibine)ruthenium

Irradiation of [Ru3(CO)12] in hexane in the presence of SbPh3gives the title complex as the major product. X-Ray diffraction has shown that the environment around the ruthenium atom is distorted trigonal bipyramidal in which the SbPh3occupies an equatorial site. The angle (C–Ru–C) between the equatorial carbonyl groups is 137° and that (C–Ru–C) between the axial carbonyl groups is 173°. This geometry represents an intermediate configuration in the dynamic rearrangement path between trigonal-bipyramidal and square-pyramidal co-ordination. The crystals are triclinic. The unit cell chosen has space group B1 with a= 14.02, b= 10.42, c= 17.49 Å, α= 121.0, β= 89.2, γ= 81.7°, and Z= 4. The structure has been refined by least squares to R 0.036 for 4 157 counter amplitudes.