Ruthenium‐Based Structural Mimics of the Cofactor of [Fe]‐Hydrogenase: Replacement of the Acyl Moiety with an N‐Heterocyclic Carbene

Abstract

A synthetic route is reported towards ruthenium‐based structural mimics of the [Fe]‐hydrogenase metal cofactor in which the acyl moiety is replaced by an N‐heterocyclic carbene. It is observed that the pyridyl‐NHC ligand has a rather different trans influence from that of a simple NHC in their ruthenium derivatives. The basis for this difference is explored crystallographically and computationally, and it accounts for their different behaviour towards thiolation.