Synthesis and structures of heterobimetallic Ir₂M (M=Pd, Pt) sulfido clusters and their catalytic activity for regioselective addition of alcohols to internal 1-aryl-1-alkynes

The heterobimetallic trinuclear suffido clusters [(Cp*Ir)₂(μ₃-S)₂MCl₂] (M = Pd (3), Pt (4); Cp* = η⁵-C₅Me₅) were synthesized from the dinuclear hydrogensulfido complex [Cp*IrCl(μ-SH)₂IrCp*Cl] (2) and [MCl₂(COD)] (COD = cycloocta-1,5-diene), while the reaction of 2 with [Pd(PPh₃)₄] afforded the cationic trinuclear cluster [(Cp*Ir)₂(μ₃-S)₂PdCl(PPh ₃)]Cl (5). Clusters 3 and 4 reacted with PPh₃ to give a series of mono and dicationic clusters including 5, while the dicationic clusters [(Cp*Ir)₂(μ₃-S)₂M(dppe)][BPh ₄]₂ (M = Pd (9), Pt (10); dppe = Ph₂PCH₂CH₂PPh₂) were obtained by the reaction with dppe followed by anion metathesis. The molecular structures of 5·CH₂Cl₂, 9·CH₃COCH₃, and 10·CH₃COCH₃ were determined by X-ray crystallography. Clusters 3 and 4 were found to catalyze the addition of alcohols to alkynes to give the corresponding acetals. Internal 1-aryl-1-alkynes were transformed by cluster 3 into the corresponding 2,2-dialkoxy-1-arylalkanes with high regioselectivity up to 99:1, while cluster 4 was a much less regioselective catalyst.