Water and catalytic isomerization of linear allylic alcohols by [RuCp(H2O-κO)(PTA)2]+ (PTA = 1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane).

A new water soluble complex [RuCp(H2O-κO)(PTA)2]+ (1) (PTA = 1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane) has been synthesized and fully characterized by NMR and IR. The crystal structure of 1(CF3SO3)·3.5H2O was characterized by single crystal X-ray determination. The catalytic activity of this complex was evaluated for the isomerisation of linear allylic alcohols from 3-buten-2-ol to 1-octen-3-ol into the correspondent ketones under both an inert atmosphere and in air, using as solvents: water, the substrate, mixtures of water/substrate, MeOH and mixtures of MeOH/water. An isomerization experiment on a mixture of all the studied allylic alcohols was also carried out.