Characterization of ruthenium-dinitrogen tetraamine complexes by XAFS spectroscopy

J Synchrotron Radiat. 2001 Mar 1;8(Pt 2):689-91. doi: 10.1107/s0909049500015971.

Abstract

A reaction between N2 and trans-Ru(II)Cl2L (L=2,5,9,12-tetramethyl-2.5,9,12-tetraazatridecane) in aqueous solutions has been investigated by XAFS spectroscopy. Ru K-edge EXAFS clearly revealed that there exists an N2-bridged binuclear complex and that the Ru-Ru distance is 4.96 A with the coordination number of 0.5. The Ru K-edge energies of the N2 complexes are closer to that of Ru(III)Cl2L+ rather than that of Ru(II)Cl2L, indicating back donation from the Ru dpi to the N2 pi* orbitals.