A dinuclear complex [(Me₃P)₃Ru(μ-OH)₃Ru(PMe₃)₃]⁺[OPh]⁻ (1) (0.5 mol%) catalyzes E-selective dimerization of phenylacetylene, which involves the C–H bond cleavage of phenylacetylene and resulting stereospecific C–C bond forming reaction, at 100 °C for 2 h to give (E)-1,4-diphenylbut-3-en-1-yne in quantitative yield (E/Z = 91/9). Similar reactions using 4-nitro-, 4-cyano-, 4-trifluoromethyl-, 4-acetyl-, and 4-methylphenylacetylene give the corresponding enynes. The kinetic study for dimerization of phenylacetylene shows the second-order and first-order reactions with regard to the phenylacetylene and 1 concentrations, respectively, suggesting this reaction to be catalyzed by a dinuclear ruthenium complex. Addition of PMe₃ to the catalytic system strongly discourages the dimerization. These features are consistent with the scenario, where dissociation of a PMe₃ ligand from 1 gives a coordinatively unsaturated diruthenium species and one of the ruthenium centers performs as a reaction site for the enyne formation and the other ruthenium center behaves as a spectator in the catalysis.

双核络合物[（Me ₃ P）₃ Ru（μ-OH）₃ Ru（PMe ₃）₃ ] ⁺ [OPh] ^-（1）（0.5 mol％）催化苯乙炔的E选择性二聚，包括C–苯乙炔的H键裂解及形成的立体定向C–C键形成反应，在100°C下反应2 h，以定量产率得到（E）-1,4-二苯基丁-3-en-1-yne（E / Z = 91/9）。使用4-硝基-，4-氰基-，4-三氟甲基-，4-乙酰基和4-甲基苯基乙炔的类似反应得到相应的烯炔。苯乙炔二聚反应的动力学研究分别显示了有关苯乙炔和1浓度的二级反应和一级反应，表明该反应是由双核钌络合物催化的。将PMe ₃加到催化体系中强烈阻碍了二聚作用。这些特征与PMe ₃配体从1上解离的情况是一致的。 得到一个配位不饱和的二钌物种，其中一个钌中心充当烯炔形成的反应位点，另一个钌中心充当催化作用的旁观者。