Synthesis and characterization of Ru(II) complexes from a Ru(III)-NHC complex as precursor

Abstract

Our main aim is to synthesize/mimic the well-known Ru(II) analogues by repurposing previously synthesized Ru(III) complex as a precursor. We have replaced two of the monodentate ligands in the original complexes with NHC-based bidentate ligand framework, i.e., 3- isopropylimidazolium pyridine (L). The synthetic route followed is the same as reported with key modifications according to our chemical environment. We have synthesized three complexes with the metal precursor [RuCl3(H2O)(L)], which was synthesized using RuCl3·3H2O as starting material. Ru(II) complexes [RuCl2(PPh3)2(L)] (2), [RuClCO(PPh3)2(L)] (3), [RuHCO(PPh3)2(L)] (4) were synthesized by the reaction of NHC ligand precursor and metal precursor under thermal conditions. All the synthesized ligands and complexes have been characterized by mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopic techniques.