A chiral carbohydrate ligand 3,4,6-tri-O-benzyl-D-glucal (L) reacts with the cluster triruthenium dodecacarbonyl Ru-3(CO)(12) giving a novel chiral cluster Ru-3(mu-H)(2)(CO)(9)(L-2H) (I) that shows fluxional behavior at room temperature. The reaction of Ru-3(mu-H)(2)(CO)(9)(L-2H) (1) with triphenylphosphine and diphenylphosphinoethane (dppe) gives two new clusters Ru-3(mu-H)(2)(CO)(7)(L-2H)(PPh3)(2) (II) and Ru-3(mu-H)(2)(CO)(7)(L-2H)(dppe) (III). The new compounds I, II and III have been characterized by a combination of elemental analysis, mass spectrometry, infrared and variable temperature NMR spectroscopy. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.