Facile Method to Obtain Functionalised η⁶‐Bound Arenes in Ru(II) and Os(II) Half‐Sandwich Complexes

Half-sandwich Ru(II)- and Os(II)-arene complexes have great potential for catalytic and biological applications. The possibility of fine-tuning their chemical reactivity by including modifications in the ligands around the metal adds to their many advantages. However, structural modifications at the η⁶-bound arene have had significant synthetic limitations, particularly in the design of Os(II)-tethered complexes. For the first time, we have employed a practical C(sp³)-C(sp²) coupling to obtain 28 new Ru(II) and Os(II) η⁶-arene half-sandwich complexes with a wide variety of arene functionalities, including those that enable the formation of tether rings, such as quinoline, and coumarin. The introduction of novel functional groups at the arene in Ru(II)- and Os(II) half-sandwich complexes can broaden the synthetic scope of this type of organometallic complexes, and help to take full advantage of their structural diversity, for example, in intracellular catalysis.