Chemical, Electrochemical, and Theoretical Investigations of [(Cp)Ru(CO)3]+ and [(Ind)Ru(CO)3]+

The complexes [(Cp)Ru(CO)3]+ and [(Ind)Ru(CO)3]+ were subjected to chemical, electrochemical, and spectroelectrochemical investigations in an attempt to gauge their similarity to [(Cp)Fe(CO)3]+ and [(Ind)Fe(CO)3]+. While the Fe complexes exhibited reversible electrochemical behavior—the indene analogue exhibiting a so-called “inverse indenyl effect”—the Ru complexes exhibited limited electrochemical reversibility, even at −30 °C and higher scan rates. The formation of the hydride complexes [(Cp)Ru(CO)2H] and [(Ind)Ru(CO)2H] was observed via 1H NMR and IR. The X-ray crystal structure of [(Ind)Ru(CO)3]+ is presented here for the first time.