Spectroscopic and Computational Studies of the Ligand Redox Non-Innocence in Mono- and Binuclear Ruthenium Vinyl Complexes

A combination of IR spectroelectrochemistry and DFT calculations has been used to demonstrate that the vinyl ligands in the complexes [Ru(CHCHC6H4Me-4)Cl(CO)(PMe3)3] and [{RuCl(CO)(PMe3)3}2(μ-CHCHC6H4CHCH)] are redox noninnocent, and one-electron oxidation results in radical cations that are best described in terms of metal-stabilized organic radicals.