Synthesis and structural studies of arene ruthenium and Cp*Rh/Cp*Ir complexes containing pyridylpyrazole- and pyridylthiazole-based ligands

Abstract

The reactions of [(arene)RuCl2]2 (arene = p-cymene or benzene) and [Cp*MCl2]2 (M = Rh or Ir) with N,N′-bidentate chelating ligands 2-[3-(2-pyridyl)pyrazolyl]pyrimidine (L1) and 4-phenyl-(2-pyridyl)thiazole (L2) leads to the formation of mononuclear complexes of general formula [(arene)/Cp*M(L)Cl]PF6. Eight such complexes have been prepared and characterized by spectroscopic techniques. In addition, five of the complexes were also characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. These complexes have typical piano-stool geometries around the metal center, with five-membered metellacycles in which L1 and L2 both act as N,N′-chelating ligands. Moreover, L1 prefers to coordinate through its pyrimidine and pyrazolyl nitrogen atoms, rather than the pyridine nitrogen.