What is "dicarbonyltrisruthenium"

Dicarbonyltris(triphenylphosphine)ruthenium(0) or Roper's complex is a ruthenium metal carbonyl. In it, two carbon monoxide ligands and three triphenylphosphine ligands are coordinated to a central ruthenium(0) center.

In solution, this compound readily dissociates one of the three phosphine ligands, thereby generating a reactive 16-electron complex that binds or oxidatively adds a variety of substrates such as alkynes, olefins, dihydrogen, and dioxygen. The compound has a trigonal bipyramidal molecular geometry and, in solution, exists as a mixture of two isomers that rapidly interconvert. The complex is air stable as a solid, but its solutions oxygenate in air to afford Ru(CO)(PPh)(η-O).