title: Low-valence triruthenium compounds via substitution of a bridging acetate in the parent Ru(3)O(OAc)(6) cluster core by 2,2'-azobispyridine (abpy) or 2,2'-azobis(5-chloropyrimidine) (abcp).
abstract: Reaction of oxo-centered Ru(3)(III,III,III) precursor [Ru(3)O(OAc)(6)(py)(2)(CH(3)OH)](PF(6)) (1) with 1 equiv of 2,2'-azobispyridine (abpy) or 2,2'-azobis(5-chloropyrimidine) (abcp) induced the formation of stable Ru(3)(III,III,II) derivatives [Ru(3)O(OAc)(5){mu-eta(1)(N),eta(2)(N,N)-L}(py)(2)](PF(6)) (L = abpy (2), abcp (3)). As established in the structure of 3 by X-ray crystallography, 2 or 3 is derived from 1 by substitution of the axial methanol and one of the bridging acetates in the parent Ru(3)O(OAc)(6) cluster core with abpy or abcp in an mu-eta(1)(N),eta(2)(N,N) bonding mode. Reduction of 3 by hydrazine induces isolation of one-electron reduced neutral Ru(3)(III,II,II) product Ru(3)O(OAc)(5){mu-eta(1)(N),eta(2)(N,N)-abcp}(py)(2) (3a). As revealed by electrochemical and spectroscopic studies, substituting one of the bridging acetates in the parent Ru(3)O(OAc)(6) cluster core by abcp or abpy modifies dramatically the electronic and redox characteristics in the triruthenium derivatives. Relative to that for the parent compound [Ru(3)O(OAc)(6)(py)(3)](PF(6)) (E(1/2) = -0.46 V), triruthenium-based redox potential in the redox process Ru(3)O(III,III,III)/Ru(3)O(III,III,II) is significantly anodic-shifted to E(1/2) = +0.36 V for 2 and E(1/2) = +0.53 V for 3. Furthermore, the anodic shifts of redox potentials are progressively enhanced with a decrease of the formal oxidation states in the triruthenium cluster cores. As a consequence of remarkable positive shifts for redox potentials, the low-valence Ru(3)(III,III,II) and Ru(3)(III,II,II) species are stabilized and accessible.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Structural Chemistry, Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fuzhou, Fujian 350002, China.
authors.forename: Heng-Yun
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Feng-Rong
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.forename: Li-Yi
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Zhong-Ning
authors.initials: ZN
authors.lastname: Chen