The use of tris(2-pyridyl)-1,3,5-triazine (TPT) for use as a bridging ligand that incorporates two Ru(II) atoms in nonequivalent sites such that one Ru(II) is bound in a bidentate fashion and the other is bound in a tridentate manner is described herein. The use of bpy-d{sub 8} as an auxiliary ligand in the formation and characterization of an unsymmetrical mononuclear ruthenium (I) complex has been extended to the perdeuterio analog of 2,2{prime};6,2{double prime}-terpyridine (Tpy), and its use in the characterization of a binuclear complex of TPT are reported. {sup 1}H NMR chemical shift data for the ligands and the ruthenium complexes are presented. 15 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab.