Six terphenyl-bridged cyclometalated
ruthenium–amine conjugated
complexes
4
(PF
6
)–
9
(PF
6
) were synthesized and studied. Three different substituents,
methoxy, methyl, and chloro, were used to vary the electronic nature
of the amine unit, and two terminal ligands 2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridine
(tpy) and trimethyl-4,4′,4″-tricarboxylate-2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridine
(Me
3
tctpy) were used to tune the electronic nature of the
ruthenium component. All complexes, except
7
(PF
6
) with the methoxy substituent and Me
3
tctpy ligand, display
two well-separated redox waves in the potential range of +0.5 to +1.1
V versus Ag/AgCl. The regular electrochemical changes of these complexes
help to establish the oxidation order of ruthenium and amine and hence
of the direction of the electron transfer in odd-electron state. The
degree of electronic coupling was estimated by analyzing the donor-to-acceptor
charge transfer band in the near-infrared region obtained by oxidative
spectroelectrochemical measurements. Electron paramagnetic resonance
analyses and density functional theory calculations were performed
on the one-electron oxidized forms to obtain information on the spin
distribution of these complexes.