Planar-to-axial chirality relay in phospharuthenocenes. A rotationally hindered 2-(2′-diphenylphosphinonaphth-1′-yl)phospharuthenocene

Competing steric pressures within the coordination sphere of 2-(2′-X-naphth-1′-yl)-3,4-dimethyl-5-phenyl-η⁵- phospholyl(pentamethylcyclopentadienyl)ruthenium(II) complexes (X = OMe (1), OH (3), OTf (4), PPh₂(O) (5), PPh₂ (6)) give rise to a well-defined and predictable axial chirality about the phospharuthenocene- naphthyl bond. Crystal structure analysis of the platinum complex cis-[Pt(6)Cl₂] (7) shows a very different geometry from that found in cis-[Pt(1)(PEt₃)Cl₂] (2) because of the leverage exerted on the Pt coordination sphere by the (2′-PPh₂-naphth-1′- yl) functionality.