Ruthenium(III) Schiff base chloro and carbonyl complexes: Synthesis, characterization and EPR studies

Abstract

The synthesis and characterization of stable ruthenium(III) Schiff base chloro and carbonyl complexes with the axial ligands chloro (Cl), imidazole (Im) and 2-methylimidazole (2-MeIm) are reported. The Schiff bases were synthesized by the interaction of naphthaldehyde with amines such as o-phenylenediamine, ethylenediamine, propylenediamine and diethylenetriamine. The geometry around ruthenium in these complexes is psuedooctahedral. The complexes are low-spin 4d5 (S = ) and display characteristic EPR spectra in the powder samples and in frozen solutions at 298 and 77 K. The EPR data and EHMO calculations on model complexes indicate that the dxy orbital lies above dxz and dyz orbitals.