The fragmentation of the 1,1,2-tris-( d i p h en y l p h o s p h i no ) e t h a n e l i g a n d in [ R u C p * -((Ph 2 P) 2 CHCH 2 PPh 2 )][PF 6 ] (1) was explored through treatment with base under aprotic conditions. The neutral phosphido complex RuCp*(PPh 2 CHCHPPh 2 )(PPh 2 ) (2) with a (Z)-1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethene (dppen) ligand was generated through a base-facilitated dehydrophosphination reaction. Installation of a bis(p-tolyl)phosphido ligand was attempted by combining bis(p-tolyl)phosphine with RuCp*-(dppen)Cl in the presence of KOtBu, but surprisingly, the unsymmetrical diphenylphosphido compound RuCp*(Ph 2 PCHCHP-(p-tol) 2 )(PPh 2 ) (5) was generated instead. The ligand rearrangement reaction was driven by the greater electron density on the bis(p-tolyl)phosphido moiety. Density functional theory calculations showed that fragmentation to the 1,2-disubstituted ligand was thermodynamically favored over the 1,1-disubstituted ligand and that intramolecular phosphido exchange was kinetically accessible at room temperature. The greater basicity of the bis(p-tolyl)phosphido ligand was experimentally verified by the