Synthesis
The ion was originally isolated as the hydrated salt (2(C4H4N2)(O3SC6H4CH3)5.3H2O). It is prepared in two steps from the monoruthenium pyrazine complex:
- 2+ + 2+ → 2(C4H4N2)]4+ + H2O
- 2(C4H4N2)]4+ + Ag+ → 2(C4H4N2)]5+ + Ag
The Creutz-Taube ion illustrates the advantages of ruthenium complexes for examining redox reactions. Ru(II) and Ru(III) ions can be interconverted at mild redox potentials or using conventional redox reagents. Importantly, coordination complexes of both of these oxidation states are kinetically inert, because they are both low-spin, d6 and d5, respectively. Many analogues of this ion have been prepared using different bridging ligands.
Read more about this topic: Creutz-Taube Complex
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