Reaction of [Ru
VI(N)(L
1)(MeOH)]
+ (L
1 =
N,
N′-bis(salicylidene)-
o-cyclohexylenediamine dianion) with excess pyridine in CH
3CN produces [Ru
III(L
1)(py)
2]
+ and N
2. The proposed mechanism involves initial equilibrium formation of [Ru
VI(N)(L
1)(py)]
+, which undergoes rapid N···N coupling to produce [(py)(L
1)Ru
IIINN−Ru
III(L
1)(py)]
2+; this is followed by pyridine substituion to give the final product. This ligand-induced N···N coupling of Ru
VIN is utilized in the preparation of a series of new ruthenium(III) salen complexes, [Ru
III(L)(X)
2]
(L = salen ligand; X = H
2O, 1-MeIm, py, Me
2SO, PhNH
2,
tBuNH
2, Cl
− or CN
−). The structures of [Ru
III(L
1)(NH
2Ph)
2](PF
6) (
6), K[Ru
III(L
1)(CN)
2] (
9), [Ru
III(L
2)(NCCH
3)
2][Au
I(CN)
2] (
11) (L
2 =
N,
N′-bis(salicylidene)-
o-phenylenediamine dianion) and [N
nBu
4][Ru
III(L
3)Cl
2] (
12) (L
3 =
N,
N′-bis(salicylidene)ethylenediamine dianion) have been determined by X-ray crystallography.