Mixed valency in metal complexes such as the Creutz-Taube ion [1,2] [(NH 3 ) 5 Ru II (m-pz)Ru III (NH 3 ) 5 ] 5+ (1; pz = pyrazine) has been investigated for over forty years, [2][3][4][5][6][7] although a major remaining challenge is to develop a detailed understanding of the localized-to-delocalized transition (that is, Class II to Class III in the Robin-Day classification scheme). [4][5][6]8] A useful probe for assessing the extent of electronic delocalization has come from analysis of the intervalence-transfer (IT) absorption bands that typically appear in the near-IR spectra. [2,3,5,6] In the valence-localized limit, these IT bands arise from photoinduced intramolecular electron transfer across the ligand bridging the mixed-valence centers, that is, MA semi-classical theoretical treatment of electronic coupling and localization versus delocalization was provided by Hush.[3] This treatment was based on the average-mode approximation and assumed a single orbital interaction. However, the multiple ligand-mediated orbital interactions in transition-metal complexes, such as 1, can result in multiple IT transitions split by low symmetry and spin-orbit coupling.[5]For dp 6 -dp 5 systems, in particular, this is predicted to give rise to five low-energy transitions, three of IT origin and two of interconfigurational (IC) origin, as depicted in Figure 1.Neglecting the reorganization energy for the IC transitions, the IT band energies are related by E IT(1) = l, E IT(2) % E IT(1) + E IC(1) , and E IT(3) % E IT(1) + E IC(2) , where l is the reorganization energy for the bridge-mediated electron transfer. The IC band energies E IC(1) and E IC(2) depend on the local symmetry at M III and the magnitude of the spin-orbit coupling constant z.[5] Only the lowest-energy IT(1) absorption arises from electron transfer in the ground state-the higher-energy IT(2) and IT(3) absorptions lead to IC excited states at the donor site and are of mixed IT/IC character.The predicted spectral pattern of five low-energy bands has been observed in the near-IR/IR regions for mixedvalence Os dimers [5,9] in Class II-III.[5] Although valences (oxidation states) are localized in this intermediate class, electron transfer between the metal sites is sufficiently rapid that solvent is averaged and no longer contributes to l. As a consequence, the decreased band energies and widths result in well separated IT absorptions for Os systems, where the large spin-orbit coupling constant of Os III (z % 3000 cm À1 ) increases the energy spacings for both IT and IC transitions.Although the model is generally applicable to d 6 -d 5 systems, there is limited evidence for analogous behavior in complexes of Ru or Fe, for which the decreased magnitudes of the spin-orbit coupling (z(Ru III ) % 1000 cm À1 ; z(Fe III ) % 400-500 cm À1 ) lead to closely spaced IT bands with overlapping absorptions as well as IC bands that are shifted into the IR and have greatly reduced absorptivities (which vary as the square of the spin-orbit coupling constant [5] (2 À ; tppz = 2,3...