The reaction of the dinuclear [RuCl
2(dppb)]
2(
![](/images/entities/mgr.gif)
-dppb) (dppb = 1,4-bis(diphenylphosphino)butane) with Cl
2 inMeOH for ~30 min at room temperature gives the bright-red solid
mer-RuCl
3(dppb)(H
2O) (
1); Cl
2 treatment for~10 min affords the red-brown, mixed valence complex [RuCl(dppb)]
2(
![](/images/entities/mgr.gif)
-Cl)
3 (
2). Controlled bulk coulometricreduction of 50% of the content of a CH
2Cl
2 solution of
1 also produces
2, formed by the reaction of
1 with"RuCl
2(dppb)" produced in situ during the electrolysis. Complexes
1 and 2 were characterized by spectroscopictechniques [including electron spin resonance (ESR)], magnetic moments
and cyclic voltammetry,
and the structureof
1 was determined by X-ray diffraction. The structure shows that the aquo lig
and forms hydrogen bonds withtwo
cis-chlorine lig
ands of the neighboring molecule of the complex; this interaction gives rise to exchangecoupling between two Ru(III) centers that is reflected in the ESR spectrum. A species
3 analogous to
1 has beenobtained with the diop lig
and [diop = (2
R,3
R)- or (2
S,3
S)-
O-isopropylidene-2,3-dihydroxy-1,4-bis(diphenylphosphino)butane], on using RuCl
2(diop)(PPh
3) or [RuCl(diop)]
2(
![](/images/entities/mgr.gif)
-Cl)
3 as precursors. The RuCl
3(P-P)L complexes(P-P = dppb, diop; L = dimethyl sulfoxide, MeOH) are readily synthesized from
1 or
3.