The title complex [fCp*RuCI,},], 1 (Cp* = q5-C,Me,),['.21 is a much-used reagent in the preparation of Cp*Ru sandwich and, in particular, half-sandwich complexes.I3-'] Although the solubility of the complex in halogenated hydrocarbons and the molar mass in chloroform (as determined by osmometric speaks against the existence of a polymer, the compound is always seen as such. ' In the preparation from RuCI,(,,, and Cp*H in methanol ['] or ethanol,[21 1 precipitates as a red-brown, microcrystalline powder, which for some time thwarted attempts at crystallization. Crystals suitable for X-ray crystallography were finally obtained by diffusion of ether into a concentrated dichloromethane solution of 1, after purification of an ether/dichloromethane solution by chromatography on silylated silicaFor compounds 2 and 3 the chromatographic procedure is unnecessary.showed that all three compounds were dimers, as anticipated. A pecularity of the crystals of 1 was the equal distribution of forms l a and lb (Fig. l) (3.712 wI1']). This isomer should thus be paramagpetic. This interpretation is supported by solid-state CP/MAS NMR spectroscopy on 1.'''] The 'H and 13C NMR spectra each show two resonance signals (6 = 2 and 18, and 6 = 13 and 246, respectively), which can be attributed to the deformational isomers. The low-field signals show the temperature proportionality characteristic of NMR signals of paramagnetic compounds. In contrast to the IR spectrum of 4, in the case of 1 (CsT pellet) the bands assigned to the M-CI vibrational modes at 292/309 and 260/275 cm-' are split. This correlates with the different distances between the Ru atoms and the terminal chloro ligands in l a and l b (Table 1). Ru-CI-Ru angles, and Ru-Ru distances of 2.93 and 3.75 A (Fig. 2), and are located at positions 000 and 0% (la) and and 9 0 (lb) of the monoclinic unit cell. The bonding parameters of l a and l b differ enough to justify the term "deformational isomerism". The molecular geometries of the compounds 2 and 3, where crystals consist of only one form, correspond to isomer l a ( Table 1). The different Ru-Ru distances in the isomers suggest a strong exchange interaction between the unpaired spins of the d5 low-spin Ru centers['61 in la, but not in lb, where the metal-metal distance is similar to the nonbonding Rh-Rh distance in the analogous Rh complex [{Cp*RhCl,},] 4