Tetranuclear Pentaammineruthenium Complexes Bridged by .pi.-Conjugated Tetracyano Ligands Related to TCNE: Syntheses and Spectroscopy of Different Oxidation States

Ruthenium amine chelates [({mu}{sub 4}-TCNX)[Ru(NH{sub 3}){sub 5}]{sub 4}]{sup n+} (TCNX = TCNE (tetracyanoethene), TCNQ (tetracyano-p-quinodimethane), TCNP (2,3,5,6-tetracyanopyrazine), and TCNB (1,2,4,5-tetracyanobenzene)) were prepared. The compounds were characterized by IR, UV/vis/near-IR and XP spectroscopies. The nitrile and pentamminemetal groups were shown to be equivalent. Oxidation and reduction studies were performed.