Direct aziridination of alkenes by a cationic (salen)ruthenium(VI) nitrido complex.

[RuVI(N)(salchda)(CH3OH)]PF6 (1) (salchda = N,N'-bis(salicylidene)o-cyclohexyldiamine dianion) reacts readily with 2,3-dimethyl-2-butene at room temperature in the presence of pyridine or 1-methylimidazole to give initially [RuIV(Az1(-H))(salchda)(py)]PF6 (2, Az1 = 2,2,3,3-tetramethylaziridine), which is then slowly reduced to [RuIII(Az1)(salchda)(py)]PF6 (3). 1 also reacts with a variety of aryl-substituted alkenes such as styrene and trans-beta-methylstyrene in the presence of py or 1-MeIm to give the corresponding ruthenium(III) aziridine complexes. The structures of 3 and [RuIII(Az2)(salchda)(1-MeIm)]PF6 (4, Az2 = trans-2-methyl-3-phenylaziridine) have been determined by X-ray crystallography. The Ru-N(aziridine) distances (2.1049, 2.097 A) are consistent with a neutral aziridine ligand. The C-C and C-N distances in the aziridine ligands are all indicative of single bonds.