2,2,2-Tris(pyrazolyl)ethoxide (EpOX) Ruthenium(II) Complexes, (EpOX)RuCl(L)(L′): Synthesis, Structure, and Reactivity

Treatment of RuCl2(PPh3)3 with sodium 2,2,2-tris­(pyrazolyl)­ethoxide [NaOCH2C­(pz)3; pz = pyrazolyl] affords the asymmetric heteroscorpionate complex cis-(EpOX)­RuCl­(PPh3)2 (1), (EpOX = κ3-N,N,O-OCH2C­(pz)3), which can be converted to Ru­(II) compounds (2–6), (EpOX)­RuCl­(L)­(L′) [(2) L = PPh3, L′ = P­(OCH2)3CEt; (3) L = L′ = P­(OCH2)3CEt; (5) L, L′ = PPh3, CO; (6) L = L′ = CO]. Compounds 1 and 3 react with CHCl3 at 60 and 100 °C, respectively, to yield cationic tris­(pyrazolyl)­methane Ru­(II) complexes, [(κ3-N,N,N-Mp)­RuCl­(L)2]Cl [Mp = HC­(pz)3; (7) L = PPh3; (8) L = P­(OCH2)3CEt]. The complexes have been characterized by 1H, 13C, and 31P­{1H} NMR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, high resolution mass spectrometry, and cyclic voltammetry. Complexes 1 and 3 have also been characterized by single crystal X-ray analysis.