Oxidation of hydrocarbons by mono- and dinuclear ruthenium quinone complexes via hydrogen atom abstraction

Deprotonation and two-electron oxidation of [Ru-2(II)(OH)(2)(Q)(2)(btpyan)](2+) (Q = 3,6-di(tert-butyl)-1,2-quinone, btpyan = 1,8-bis(2,2':6',2-terpyridyl)anthracene) was converted to bis(ruthenium-oxo) complex [Ru-2(II)(O)(2)(Q)(2)(btpyan)](2+), which oxidized 1,3-cychrohexadiene and 1,2-dihydronaphtalene to corresponding aromatic compounds in the presence of AgClO4 and t-BuOK. On the other hand, mononuclear complex [Ru-II(OH2)(Q)(Ph-terpy)](2+) (Ph-terpy = 4'-phenyl-2,2': 6',2-terpyridine, [2](2+)) was converted to [Ru-II(OH)(Q)(Ph-terpy)](2+) under the similar conditions, but displayed the low activity for the oxidation compared with the dinuclear complex [1](2+).