Coordinating Tectons. Experimental and Computational Infrared Data as Tools To Identify Conformational Isomers and Explore Electronic Structures of 4-Ethynyl-2,2′-bipyridine Complexes

4-Ethynyl-2,2′-bipyridyl-substituted ruthenium alkynyl complexes have been prepared and used to access a range of binuclear homometallic ruthenium and heterometallic ruthenium–rhenium complexes. These have been characterized by a variety of spectroscopic and single-crystal X-ray diffraction experiments. The IR spectra of a number of these ruthenium alkynyls display multiple ν(C≡C) bands in the IR spectra, which are rationalized in terms of putative conformational isomers, whose calculated infrared stretching frequencies are comparable to those obtained experimentally. The mononuclear alkynyl ruthenium complexes undergo reversible one-electron oxidations centered largely on the alkynyl ligands, as inferred from the significant shift in ν(C≡C) frequency on oxidation, while the binuclear complex [Ru{C≡C-4-bpy-κ2-N,N′-RuClCp}(dppe)Cp*]+ undergoes initial oxidation at the very electron rich {RuCl(bpy)Cp} fragment, causing only a small change in ν(C≡C). A combination of IR and UV–vis spectroelectrochemical expe...