Starting from the Creutz-Taube ion as the prototype of a molecule-bridged mixed-valent complex, a number of related systems are presented in which the metal, the co-ligands, the molecular bridge, the d electron configuration, the medium, the charge, the coordination mode, or the nuclearity have been modified. The new mixed-valent configurations, as obtained through various chemical approaches, display different stabilities and spectroscopic characteristics in relation to the Creutz-Taube ion; the analysis of these results serves to provide a better understanding of fundamental aspects of molecule-mediated metal-metal interaction.

The complexes [(mu-bmtz(*-))[Cu(PPh(3))(2)](2)](BF(4)) (1) and [(mu-H(2)bmtz)[Cu(PPh(3))(2)](2)](BF(4))(2) (2) (bmtz = 3,6-bis(2'-pyrimidyl)-1,2,4,5-tetrazine and H(2)bmtz = 1,4-dihydro-3,6-bis(2'-pyrimidyl)-1,2,4,5-tetrazine) were obtained as stable materials that could be crystallized for structure determination. 1.2 CH(2)Cl(2): C(84)H(70)BCl(4)Cu(2)F(4)N(8)P(4); monoclinic, C2/c; a = 26.215(7) A, b = 22.122(6) A, c = 18.114(5) A, beta = 133.51(1) degrees; Z = 4. 2.CH(2)Cl(2): C(83)H(70)B(2)Cl(2)Cu(2)F(8)N(8)P(4); triclinic, P1; a = 10.948(2) A, b = 12.067(2) A, c = 30.287(6) A, alpha = 93.82(3) degrees, beta = 94.46(3) degrees, gamma = 101.60(3) degrees; Z = 2. Bmtz itself was also structurally characterized (C(10)H(6)N(8); monoclinic, P2(1)/c; a = 3.8234(8) A, b = 10.147(2) A, c = 13.195(3) A, beta = 94.92(3) degrees; Z = 2). Whereas the radical complex ion contains a planar tetrazine ring in the center, the 1,4-dihydrotetrazine heterocycle in the corresponding complex of H(2)bmtz is considerably folded. Both systems exhibit slight twists between the tetrazine and the pyrimidine rings. The intra-tetrazine distances are characteristically affected by the electron transfer, as is also evident from a comparison with the new structure of free bmtz; the bonding to copper(I) changes accordingly. Spectroscopy including X- and W-band EPR of the radical species confirms that the electron addition is mainly to the tetrazine ring.

The conceptually simple mixed-valent diiron compound (NEt(4))(5)[(NC)(5)Fe(mu-tz)Fe(CN)(5)] with the 1,2,4,5-tetrazine (tz) bridging ligand was obtained as a thermally and air-stable material that displays large and highly variable electrochemical comproportionation constants between about 10(8) (in water) and 10(19.0) (in acetonitrile). Strong metal-metal interaction is also evident from spectroscopic results obtained for the solid and for the dissolved species. The rather intense intervalence charge-transfer band occurs around 2400 nm; infrared and Mössbauer spectra reveal the high spectroscopic symmetry of the system according to an (Fe(2.5))(2) formulation. DFT calculations on the [(NC)(5)Fe(mu-tz)Fe(CN)(5)](6-) ion confirm the presence of very low-lying pi(tz) and high-lying d(Fe) orbitals.

Two molecule-bridged bis(tetracyanoiron) complexes [(NC)(4)Fe(BL)Fe(CN)(4)](n)()(-), BL = 2,2'-bipyrimidine (bpym) and 3,6-bis(2-pyridyl)-1,2,4,5-tetrazine (bptz), were studied by EPR, UV/vis/near-IR and IR spectroelectrochemistry (n = 2-5) in aprotic media. Following these results, the Fe(2)(2.5) formulation is the correct valence description for the metal centers in the bptz-bridged trianion (K(c) = 10(14.6) in CH(3)CN), whereas the localized Fe(III)/Fe(II) formulation is appropriate for the bpym-bridged system (K(c) = 10(5.4) in CH(3)CN and 10(6.4) in CH(2)Cl(2)). In contrast to common perception, the larger tetrazine-bridged system with the longer metal-metal distance exhibits much stronger metal-metal coupling than the bpym-bridged analogue, a consequence of the very low lying pi LUMO of tetrazines with high MO coefficients at the coordinating nitrogen centers.