Luminescent property and catalytic activity of Ru(II) carbonyl complexes containing N, O donor of 2-hydroxy-1-naphthylideneimines

The reaction of the chelating ligands (obtained by the condensation of 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde with various primary amines) with [RuHCl(CO)(EPh3)2(B)] (where E = P; B = PPh3, py or pip: E = As; B = AsPh3) in benzene afforded new stable ruthenium(II) carbonyl complexes of the general formula [Ru(Cl)(CO)(EPh3)(B)(L)] (L = anion of bidentate Schiff bases). The structure of the new complexes was investigated using elemental analyses, spectral (FT–IR, UV–vis and 1H NMR) and electrochemical studies and is found to be octahedral. All the metal complexes exhibit characteristic MLCT absorption and luminescence bands in the visible region. The luminescence efficiency of the ruthenium(II) complexes was explained based on the ligand environment around the metal ion. These complexes catalyze oxidation of primary and secondary alcohols into their corresponding carbonyl compounds in the presence of N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide (NMO) as the source of oxygen. The formation of high valent RuIV = O species as a catalytic intermediate is proposed for the catalytic process.