Ruthenium, osmium and rhodium complexes of polypyridyl ligands: Metal-promoted activities, stereochemical aspects and electrochemical properties

Abstract

This article presents a brief overview of the reactions of 2,4,6-tris(2-pyridyl)-1,3,5-triazine (tptz) in presence of rhodium(III), ruthenium(II) and osmium(II) under various experimental conditions. Under certain experimental conditions tptz exhibits metal-assisted hydrolysis/hydroxylation at the triazine ring. However, synthetic methods have also been developed to prepare complexes with intact tptz. Molecular structures of some of the complexes, especially stereoisomers of the hydroxylated products, are established by single crystal X-ray studies. A critical analysis of all data suggests that the electron-withdrawing effect of the metal ion (L→M σ donation) is the predominant factor, rather than angular strain, that is responsible for metal-promoted reactivities. Electrochemical properties of all of these complexes have been investigated, Rh(III) complexes are excellent catalysts for electrocatalytic reduction of CO2, and dinuclear Ru(II) and Os(II) complexes exhibit strong electronic communication between the metal centres.