Soluble paramagnetic Ru26+ paddlewheels with alkyl-substituted bicyclic guanidinates

Syntheses are reported for two diruthenium compounds having the formula Ru2(TRhpp)4Cl2, where R = Me (1) and Et (2) and TRhpp is the anion of a tetraalkyl-substituted bicyclic guanidinate. The Ru26+ core of 1 is enclosed by four tetramethyl-substituted bicyclic guanidinates and two chlorine atoms positioned along the Ru–Ru axis. Each compound possesses two unpaired electrons at ambient temperature consistent with a formal bond order of three and a σ2π4δ2π∗2 (Q8π∗2) electronic configuration. The compounds are EPR-silent as determined by examination of frozen dichloromethane solutions at 77 K using an X-band spectrometer. There is a short Ru–Ru distance of 2.2896(15) Å.

Two compounds with a paddlewheel structure and Ru26+ core surrounded by four alkylated bicyclic guanidinates and two axial ligands along the Ru–Ru bond having a formal order of 3.0 and a σ2π4δ2π∗2 electronic configuration have been characterized.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide