CO-ligand Photodissociation in Two Ru(II) Complexes Affected by Different Polypyridyl Supporting Ligands
Two dicarbonylruthenium(II) complexes were prepared with the same framework but different π-conjugation lengths in their supporting ligands. Despite the shared framework, as determined from X-ray structural analysis, they showed significantly different reactivities due to the chemical structures of the supporting ligands. Isolation and characterization of the photoreaction products revealed that the complex with shorter π-conjugation system underwent complete decarbonylation followed by photoisomerization, whereas the other complex with a longer system retained one carbonyl ligand and the original geometry.