A donor--acceptor--donor bridging ligand in a class III mixed-valence complex

The novel mononuclear and dinuclear complexes Ru(trpy)(bpy)(apc)]PF(6)] and (Ru(trpy)(bpy))(2)(mu-adpc)]PF(6)](2) (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine, trpy = 2,2':6',2' '-terpyridine, apc(-) = 4-azo(phenylcyanamido)benzene, and adpc(2)(-) = 4,4'-azodi(phenylcyanamido)) were synthesized and characterized by (1)H NMR, UV-vis, and cyclic voltammetry. Crystallography showed that the dinuclear Ru(II) complex crystallizes from diethyl ether/acetonitrile solution as (Ru(trpy)(bpy))(2)(mu-adpc)]PF(6)](2).2(acetonitrile).2(diethyl ether). Crystal structure data are as follows: crystal system triclinic, space group P1, with a, b, and c = 12.480(2), 13.090(3) and 14.147(3) A, respectively, alpha, beta, and gamma = 79.792(3), 68.027(3), and 64.447(3) degrees, respectively, V = 1933.3(6) A(3), and Z = 1. The structure was refined to a final R factor of 0.0421. The mixed-valence complex with metal ions, separated by a through-space distance of 19.5 A, is a class III system, having the comproportionation constant K(c) = 1.3 x 10(13) and an intervalence band at 1920 nm (epsilon(max) = 10 000 M(-1) cm(-1)), in dimethylformamide solution. The results of this study strongly suggest that the bridging ligand adpc(2-) can mediate metal-metal coupling through both hole-transfer and electron-transfer superexchange mechanisms.