Ion pairs containing N-substituted derivatives of 1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane (pta-R; R= benzyl, butyl, hexyl) as cations and monosulfonated triphenylphosphine (mtppms) as anion were synthetized and characterized (including X-ray diffraction, too). These ion pairs act as bidentate phosphorus ligands in reactions with [(η 6 -C 10 H 14 )RuCl 2 ] 2 , yielding mononuclear or dinuclear half sandwich Ru(II) complexes. A bisphosphine 3 of good watersolubility was synthesized in reaction of pta with 1,4-bis(chloromethyl)benzene and used for the synthesis of the water-soluble dinuclear complex [{(η 6 -C 10 H 14 )RuCl 2 } 2 (μ-3)]Cl 2 .