Investigating the reactivity of neutral water-soluble Ru(ii)–PTA carbonyls towards the model imine ligands pyridine and 2,2′-bipyridine

As a continuation of our strategy for preparing new Ru(II) precursors to be exploited as building blocks in the construction of metal-mediated supramolecular assemblies with improved solubility in water, here we describe the reactivity of selected neutral Ru(II)–PTA carbonyls (PTA = 1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane) towards the model imine ligands pyridine (py) and 2,2′-bipyridine (bpy) and the preparation and characterization of several neutral and cationic water-soluble derivatives: trans,trans,trans-[RuCl2(CO)(py)(PTA)2] (7), cis,cis,trans-[RuCl2(CO)2(py)(PTA)] (9), cis,trans-[Ru(bpy)Cl(CO)(PTA)2]Cl (10), mer-[Ru(bpy)(CO)(PTA)3](Cl)2 (12), cis,trans-[Ru(bpy)(CO)2Cl(PTA)]Cl (13), cis,trans-[Ru(bpy)(CO)2(PTA)2](NO3)2 (14NO3). In addition, we found that light-induced isomerization in some bpy compounds could be induced. The following species, either side-products isolated in low yield or compounds obtained exclusively in solution, were also unambiguously identified: cis,cis,trans-[RuCl2(CO)(py)(PTA)2] (8), trans-[RuCl2(bpy)(CO)(PTA)] (11), cis,cis-[Ru(bpy)Cl(CO)(PTA)2]Cl (15) and cis,cis-[Ru(bpy)(CO)2Cl(PTA)]Cl (16). The X-ray structures of 7, 11·H2O, and 12·7H2O are also reported. All compounds are new and – with few exceptions – show a good solubility in water.