Aryls represent a
class of both σ- and π-donating electron-rich
axial ligands that is underexplored in the field of metal–metal
multiply bonded paddlewheel species. By a decrease in the steric bulk
around the diruthenium axial sites and an increase in the basicity
of the bridging ligands, the first examples of bisaryl diruthenium(III)
paddlewheel complexes have been isolated. Compounds of the form Ru2(DMBA)4Ar2 (DMBA = N,N′-dimethylbenzamidinate, Ar = C6H4-4-
t
Bu (1), C6H5 (2), C6H3-3,5-(OCH3)2 (3)) were synthesized via a lithium–halogen
exchange reaction between Ru2(DMBA)4Cl2 and excess LiAr and characterized using mass spectrometry, electronic
absorption spectroscopy, cyclic and differential pulse voltammetry,
and 1H NMR spectroscopy. The molecular structures of compounds 1–3 were established using single-crystal
X-ray diffraction analysis and their electronic structures (both ground
and excited state) analyzed using density functional theory calculations.