A Bimetallic Ruthenium Ethylene Complex as a Catalyst Precursor for the Kharasch Reaction

A bimetallic complex, in which a RuCl2(η2-C2H4)(PCy3) fragment is connected via three chloro bridges to a (η6-p-cymene)RuCl2 fragment, has been synthesized and characterized by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. This complex was used to catalyze the atom transfer radical addition of CCl4 and CHCl3 to olefins at temperatures between 0 and 40 °C. Turnover frequencies of up to 1550 h-1 were observed, making the new complex one of the most active catalysts for this type of reaction described so far.