Reactivity of 17- and 19-electron organometallic complexes. Formation of bent sandwich 19-electron radical cation complexes of ruthenium and osmium

The redox behavior of sandwich indenyl complexes of the general formula (⁵-C₉H₇)ML (M=Ru and L=⁵-C₉H₇ (1), ⁵-C₅H₅ (2), ⁵-C₅Me₅ (3); M=Os, L=⁵-C₉H₇ (4)) has been studied in THF, MeCN, and CH₂Cl₂ by cyclic voltammetry and controlled potential electrolysis on a Pt electrode in the –85 to +20 °C temperature range. The title complexes have been found to undergo reversible one-electron oxidation to the corresponding radical cations, whose stabilities and reactivities depend on the nature of both the metal and °-ligands and of the nucleophilic properties of the solvent. The fast interaction of the electrogenerated 17-electron radical cations with nucleophiles yields bent sandwich 19-electron radical cations, [(⁵-C₉H₇)M(L)(Nu)]⁺ (Nu = Cl^–, MeCN, or THF), the latter undergoing one-electron oxidation to the corresponding [(⁵-C₉H₇)M(L)(Nu)]²⁺ dications. In the case of Nu=THF, the reaction of the electrogenerated 17-electron radical cations with nucleophiles appears to be reversible. Radical cations [(⁵-C₉H₇)₂M]^+· (M=Ru, Os) have been characterized by ESR spectra.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 12, pp. 2394–2399, December, 1995.