Synthesis and characterization of Ru(IV) and Rh(I) complexes containing phenylimidazole ligands

The reactions of chloro-bridged dimeric complexes [{(eta(3);eta(3)-C10H16)Ru(mu-Cl)Cl}(2)] and [{(eta(4)-C8H12)RhCl}(2)] with 1-(4-cyanophenyl)imidazole (CPI), 1-(4-nitrophenyl) imidazole (NOPI), 1-(4-formylphenyl) imidazole(FPI) and 1-(4-hydroxy-phenyl) imidazole (HPI) have been investigated. These reactions afforded complexes with the general formulations [(eta(3);eta(3)-C10H16)RuCl2(L)] (L = CPI, 1; NOPI, 2; FPI, 3; HPI, 4) and [(eta(4)-C8H12)RhCl(L)] (L = CPI, 5; NOPI, 6; FPI, 7; HPI, 8). Resulting complexes have been characterized by analytical and spectral (IR, H-1 and C-13 NMR, UVeVis) studies. Crystal structures of 2, 5 and 6 have been determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction analyses. Structural studies on the complexes 2, 5 and 6 revealed the presence of extensive inter-and intra-molecular C-H center dot center dot center dot X (X = O and Cl) and CeH/ p interactions. Theoretical studies have been performed to authenticate the structures and NBO calculations to determine electronic properties of the complexes. (C) 2010 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.