Stoichiometric Reactions between the Rhodium/Iridium Complexes and 2‐Vinylbenzaldehyde Derivatives: Synthesis and Characterization of Rhodaindanone and Iridaindanone Complexes

Utilizing rhodium complexes to catalyze 2‐vinylbenzaldehyde derivatives has proven to be a valuable strategy in constructing indanone moieties. In this study, the stoichiometric reactions of Wilkinson's catalyst RhCl(PPh3)3 with 2‐vinylbenzaldehyde derivatives were investigated, leading to the formation of rhodaindanone complexes (2). Notably, the transformation of of rhoda‐1‐indanone (2 a) to rhoda‐2‐indanone (3) was achieved for the first time. In comparision, the reactivity of IrCl(PPh3)3 and Ir(CO)(CH3CN)(PPh3)2 ⋅ BF4 towards 2‐vinylbenzaldehyde derivatives affords irida‐2‐indanone complexes (4) and fused iridacycles (5), respectively. These newly prepared coumpounds represent the first metellacycles resulting from the reactions between 2‐vinylbenzaldehyde derivatives and rhodium/iridium complexes and may provide further insights into the catalytic processes involving 2‐vinylbenzaldehyde derivatives for synthesizing indanone compounds. The stoichiometric reactions between the 2‐vinylbenzaldehyde derivatives and rhodium/iridium complexes were investigated and several rare examples of metallaindanones were isolated. Moreover, the transformation of rhoda‐1‐indanone to rhoda‐2‐indanone was realized for the first time.