Pentaamine(nitrogen)ruthenium(II) chloride is an
inorganic compound
In chemistry, an inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bonds, that is, a compound that is not an organic compound. The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as '' inorganic chemist ...
with the formula
u(NH3)5(N2)l
2. It is a nearly white solid, but its solutions are yellow. The cationic complex is of historic significance as the first compound with N
2 bound to a metal center.
u(NH3)5(N2)sup>2+ adopts an octahedral structure with C
4v symmetry.
Preparation and properties
Pentaamine(nitrogen)ruthenium(II) chloride is synthesized in an aqueous solution from pentaamminechlororuthenium(III) chloride,
sodium azide, and
methanesulfonic acid:
[Allen, A. D., Bottomley, F., Harris, R. O., Reinsalu, V. P., Senoff, C. V. "Pentaammine(Nitrogen)Ruthenium(II) Salts and Other Ammines of Ruthenium" ''Inorganic Syntheses'', 2007, volume 12, pp. 2-8. ]
:
u(NH3)5Cll
2 + NaN
3 →
u(NH3)5N2l
2 + ...
If it is to be used ''in situ'', the cation can be made more conveniently from ruthenium(III) chloride and hydrazine hydrate:
[
:RuCl3 + 4 N2H4 → u(NH3)5N2sup>2+ + ...
This N2 complex is stable in aqueous solution and has a relatively low ligand exchange rate with water. Being a d6 complex, the Ru-N bond is stabilized by the ]pi backbonding
In chemistry, π backbonding, also called π backdonation, is when electrons move from an atomic orbital on one atom to an appropriate symmetry antibonding orbital on a ''π-acceptor ligand''. It is especially common in the organometallic chemi ...
, the donation of metal d-electrons into the N2 π* orbitals. The related metal ammine complex
In coordination chemistry, metal ammine complexes are metal complexes containing at least one ammonia () ligand. "Ammine" is spelled this way due to historical reasons; in contrast, alkyl or aryl bearing ligands are spelt with a single "m". Almost ...
s(NH3)5(N2)sup>2+ is also known.
Reactions
The dinitrogen ligand is not reduced by aqueous sodium borohydride. Nearly all known reactions of this compound are displacement reactions. Pentaamine(halogen)ruthenium(II) halides can be synthesized by treating u(NH3)5N2sup>2+ with halide sources:[
: u(NH3)5N2sup>2+ + X− → u(NH3)5Xsup>+ + N2
u(NH3)5N2sup>2+ forms the symmetrically bridging symmetrical ]dinitrogen complex
Transition metal dinitrogen complexes are coordination compounds that contain transition metals as ion centers the dinitrogen molecules (N2) as ligands.
Historical background
Transition metal complexes of N2 have been studied since 1965 when ...
NH3)5Ru-NN-Ru(NH3)5sup>4+.[Chatt, J. "Molecular Nitrogen as a Ligand" ''Pure Appl. Chem.'', 1970, volume 24, pp. 425–442. {{doi, 10.1351/pac197024020425]
References
Ruthenium complexes
Chlorides
Coordination complexes
Ammine complexes
Ruthenium(II) compounds
Nitrogen compounds