Supramolecular Cluster Catalysis: Benzene Hydrogenation Catalyzed by a Cationic Triruthenium Cluster under Biphasic Conditions

At the interface of homogeneous, heterogeneous, and enzymatic catalysis is the catalytic hydrogenation of benzene to give cyclohexane by the triruthenium cluster 1. Experimental evidence and molecular modeling studies strongly support a catalytic mechanism in which the aromatic substrate is hydrogenated in the hydrophobic pocket spanned by the three η6-bound arene ligands without being coordinated to a Ru center.