The synthesis of metal complexes with anionic
5-pyrrole ligands is generally complicatedby the free nitrogen lone pair. Methods are reported for the synthesis of two types of neutral
5-tetramethylpyrrolyl (NC
4Me
4) ruthenium complexes. Ru(
5-NC
4Me
4)
2 is prepared from(Ph
3P)
3RuCl
2 and lithium tetramethylpyrrolide in refluxing THF. A chiral diazaruthenocenewith
C2 symmetry is prepared from 2,3-dimethyl-4,5,6,7-tetrahydroindole. Attempts toprepare diazaruthenocenes from [Ru(
4-C
8H
12)Cl
2]
x led to deprotonation of the COD ligandto form a complex Ru(1-3:5,6-
5-C
8H
11)(
5-NC
4Me
4) isoelectronic with Ru(
5-NC
4Me
4)
2.