Ye et al.
Chart 1
istry and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). However,
the EPR information was frequently found unsatisfactory
because of insufficient resolution, either for the hyperfine
structure or for the g tensor anisotropy. In particular, those
systems with a considerable metal contribution to the singly
occupied molecular orbital (SOMO) did show g anisotropy
in the X band (9.5 GHz) but no hyperfine splitting due to
broad lines.6,7,9 On the other hand, the small g anisotropies
expected for complexes with a primarily ligand-based SOMO
(anion radical complexes10) were often difficult to determine
accurately in the X band.3,5 Osmium analogues are less well-
documented than the ruthenium complexes.11 The EPR
spectroscopy of osmium-containing compounds is typically
affected by the high spin-orbit coupling constant of that 5d
element12,13 and by inherently rapid relaxation, leading to
broadened lines or even “EPR silence”. On the other hand,
if the line width allows for detection, the conditions for metal
hyperfine coupling are a little better for 189Os (I ) 3/2, 16.1%
natural abundance, Aiso ) 471.0 mT) than for the ruthenium
isotopes 99Ru (I ) 5/2, 12.7%, Aiso ) 62.94 mT) and 101Ru (I
were recorded on J & M Tidas Agilent 8453 and Bruins Instruments
Omega 10 spectrophotometers. Cyclic voltammetry was carried out
in 0.1 M Bu4NPF6 solutions using a three-electrode configuration
(glassy carbon electrode, Pt counter electrode, Ag/AgCl reference)
and a PAR 273 potentiostat and function generator. The ferrocene/
ferrocenium couple served as an internal reference. Spectroelec-
trochemical measurements were performed using an optically
transparent thin-layer electrode (OTTLE) cell15 for UV-vis-NIR
absorption spectra.
Syntheses. The ligand 2-anilino-4,6-di-tert-butylphenol (Chart
1) was prepared according to a published procedure.16
[Ru(bpy)2(Q)]PF6 and [Os(bpy)2(Q)]PF6. The complexes were
obtained in an analogous way. Solutions of 1.0 mmol of the ligand,
4 mL of 0.5 M NaOCH3, and 1.0 mmol of cis-M(bpy)2Cl2‚2H2O
(M ) Ru, Os) were heated to reflux in the presence of air in 25
mL of acetonitrile for 4 h. After cooling, 1.0 mmol of KPF6 was
added to precipitate the complexes at 4 °C. The precipitates were
collected by filtration, and after washing with cold acetonitrile, dark
microcrystalline materials were obtained in about 60% yield. Anal.
Calcd for C40H41F6N5ORuP: C, 56.27; H, 4.84; N, 8.20. Found:
C, 56.57; H, 4.41; N, 8.34%. Anal. Calcd for C40H41F6N5OOsP:
C, 50.95; H, 4.38; N, 7.43. Found: C, 50.41; H, 4.06; N, 7.11%.
5
) /2, 17.0%, Aiso ) 70.52 mT).13
In this report, we present a detailed EPR analysis of the
isolated complexes [M(bpy)2(Q)](PF6) (bpy ) 2,2′-bipyridyl)
at X and W band frequencies (95 GHz) in a dichloromethane
solution at ambient temperatures and at 4 K. We also report
UV-vis-near-infrared (NIR) spectroelectrochemical results
for the electrochemically generated states [M(bpy)2(Q)]n+,
n ) 0, 1, 2, and 3.
Results and Discussion
Experimental Section
Synthesis and Electrochemistry. The radical complexes
[M(bpy)2(Q)](PF6) were obtained from reactions between the
cis-M(bpy)2Cl2 precursors and 2-anilino-4,6-di-tert-butyl-
phenol. The oxidation equivalents required to obtain the
semioxidized complexes are believed to come from traces
of O2, which, in the reduced form, also acts as proton
acceptor. Identification of the isolated complexes by elemen-
tal analysis, EPR, and cyclic voltammetry in CH2Cl2/0.1 M
Bu4NPF6 showed that the isolated paramagnetic compounds
are intermediates with not too closely spaced one-electron
reduction and oxidation waves (Figure 1; Table 1). After
the first oxidation to [M(bpy)2(Q)]2+ at about -0.5 V, a
second oxidation to [M(bpy)2(Q)]3+ was observed in both
cases at rather high potentials; bpy-centered reduction
processes cannot be observed before the negative potential
limit of the CH2Cl2 solvent.
The second oxidation waves are associated with MII f
MIII processes,3 characteristically11,17 with a significantly
lower value for the osmium analogue. The difference ∆E
between the oxidation and reduction potentials of the
complexes [M(bpy)2(Q)](PF6) is slightly higher for the
ruthenium analogue (0.87 V vs 0.72 V), a phenomenon
familiar from related systems that signifies less metal/ligand
orbital mixing.11,17
Instrumentation. X band EPR spectra were recorded on a
Bruker System ESP 300 equipped with a Bruker ER035M gauss-
meter and an HP 5350B microwave counter. W band EPR spectra
were recorded using a multifrequency spectrometer.14 A Gunn diode
operating at 95 GHz was used as a radiation source. An InSb
bolometer (QMC Instruments) was used for detection. The main
magnetic field was provided by a superconducting magnet (Cryo-
genics Consultant), which generates fields up to 12 T. As a result
of different field sweep conditions, the absolute values of the g
components were obtained by calibrating the precisely measured g
anisotropy data with the isotropic g value from X band measure-
ments. Although this procedure does not account for the temperature
dependence of g, the values extracted are identical with those
obtained using an added standard. UV-vis-NIR absorption spectra
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2844 Inorganic Chemistry, Vol. 44, No. 8, 2005