Two in one: Charged tertiary phosphines held together by ionic or covalent interactions as bidentate phosphorus ligands for synthesis of half-sandwich Ru(II)-complexes

Ion pairs consisting of N-substituted derivatives of 1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane (pta-R; R = benzyl, butyl, hexyl) as cations and monosulfonated triphenylphosphine (mtppms) as anion were synthesized and characterized (including X-ray diffraction, too). These ion pairs act as bidentate phosphorus ligands in reactions with [(η6-C10H14)RuCl2]2, yielding mononuclear or dinuclear half sandwich Ru(II) complexes. Bisphosphine 3 of good water-solubility was synthesized in reaction of pta with 1,4-bis(chloromethyl)benzene and used for the synthesis of the water-soluble dinuclear complex [{(η6-C10H14)RuCl2}2(μ-3)]Cl2.

Graphical abstractTertiary phosphines bearing oppositely charged substituents are held together by Coulombic forces to behave as bidentate ligands.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide