Structure and reactivity of a seven-coordinate ruthenium acylperoxo complex.

The use of metal-acylperoxo complexes as oxidants has been little explored. Herein we report the synthesis and characterization of the first seven-coordinate Ru-acylperoxo complex, [Ru IV (bdpm)(pic) 2 ( m CPBA)] + (H 2 bdpm = [2,2'-bipyridine]-6,6'-diylbis(diphenylmethanol); pic = 4-picoline; H m CPBA = m -chloroperbenzoic acid). This complex is a highly reactive oxidant for C-H bond activation and O-atom transfer reactions.