Halogen complexes of ruthenium cyclopentadienyl ͓CpRu͑PTA͒ 2 X͔; ͓CpRu͑PTA͒͑PPh 3 ͒X͔; ͓CpRu͑PPh 3 ͒ 2 Cl͔, and ͓CpRu͑mPTA͒͑PPh 3 ͒X͔ + ͑Cp = C 5 H 5 ; PTA = 1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane; mPTA + = ͓1-methyl-1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane͔ + ; X = Cl − , I − ͒ were investigated by electrospray mass spectrometry ͑ESI-MS͒, in flow-cell cyclic voltammetry, by microelectrodes, and by combined online electrochemistry and electrospray mass spectrometry ͑EC/ESI-MS͒ in dimethyl formamide solution. Coordination changes and the structures of the initial compounds and the products of the electrooxidation of the Ru͑II͒ complexes were traced by in situ EC/MS n experiments which revealed their fragmentation pathways. ESI-MS collision-induced dissociation fragmentations of the initial reactants and the oxidation products were explained by soft acid-hard base considerations taking into account the different nature of Ru͑II͒-Ru͑IV͒ centers. The electrochemical studies show that it is possible to tune the formal potentials for the oxidation of ͓CpRuL 2 X͔ complexes by over 300 mV by proper selection of the ligands. The increase of the redox potential by the different ligands follows the order PTA Ͻ PPh 3 Ͻ mPTA + . We demonstrate a similarity between the propensity of the ligand to fragment out in the gas phase and its relationship to the formal potential of the complex.The use of neutral water-soluble monodentate phosphines such as 1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane ͑PTA͒ has received renewed interest in the recent literature due to its ability to solubilize transition metal complexes in the aqueous phase. This property has been used for aqueous phase or biphasic homogeneous catalysis of Rh, Ru, and Pd-PTA complexes, in tests as new drugs for tumor inhibition ͑Ru-and Pt-PTA͒ and in photoluminescent devices ͑Au-PTA͒. 1 Other interesting characteristics of PTA are the ability to bridge different transition metals both via P and N donor atoms, to create complex water soluble organometallic networks, 2 and to selectively functionalize either P or N, for example by attack from BH 3 . 3,4 Ru͑II͒, Rh͑I͒, and Rh͑III͒ complexes of N-methyl-PTA ͑PTA-Me͒ such as trans-͓RuI 4 ͑PTA-Me͒ 2 ͔, ͓RuI 2 ͑PTA-Me͒ 3 ͑H 2 O͔͒I 3 , and ͓RhI 4 ͑PTA-Me͒ 2 ͔I are active catalysts for the hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde 5 at the C v O bond for Ru, and at the C v C double bond for Rh. Also these complexes were found to be active in DNA binding studies. 6 The synthesis of the new rhenium pentahydride complex ͓ReH 5 ͑PPh 3 ͒ 2 ͑PTA͔͒ and its characterization by X-ray diffraction analysis, variable temperature infrared ͑IR͒ and nuclear magnetic resonance ͑NMR͒ experiments, including T 1 analysis and protonation studies was also recently described. 7