1,2-hydrogen migration to a saturated ruthenium complex via reversal of electronic properties for tin in a stannylene-to-metallostannylene conversion.

An intramolecular 1,2(α)-H migration in a saturated ruthenium stannylene complex, to form a ruthenostannylene complex, involves a reversal of the role for a coordinated stannylene ligand, from that of an electron donor to an acceptor in the transition state. This change in the bonding properties for a stannylene group, with a simple molecular motion, lifts the usual requirement for generation of an unsaturated metal center in migration chemistry.