Kinetic control of stereoselectivity of halide substitution in arene ruthenium pyridyloxazoline complexes; a rare case of net inversion†

Abstract

Reaction of [RuCl(Prⁱ-pymox)(η⁶-mes)]⁺ 1b [Prⁱ-pymox = 4-isopropyl-2-(2-pyridyl)-1,3-oxazoline, mes = 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene] with AgSbF₆ then with halide gives [RuX(Prⁱ-pymox)(η⁶-mes)]⁺ (X = Cl 1, Br 2, I 3), each as a mixture of diastereomers, the kinetic product being formed preferentially with net inversion of configuration at the metal; the structures of 2a and 2b have been determined by X-ray crystallography.