Steric Control of the Coordination Mode of the
Salicylaldehyde Thiosemicarbazone Ligand.
Syntheses, Structures, and Redox Properties of
Ruthenium and Osmium Complexes
Falguni Basuli,
1a
Shie-Ming Peng,
1b
and
Samaresh Bhattacharya*
,1a
Inorganic Chemistry Section, Department of Chemistry,
Jadavpur University, Calcutta 700032, India, and Department
of Chemistry, National Taiwan University,
Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
ReceiVed May 1, 1997
Introduction
The chemistry of transition metal complexes of thiosemicar-
bazones has been receiving considerable attention largely
because of their pharmacological properties.
2
Thiosemicarba-
zones usually bind to a metal ion, either in the neutral thione
form (1) or in the anionic thiolate form (2), as bidentate N,S-
donor ligands forming five-membered chelate rings.
2,3
How-
ever, incorporation of a third donor site (D) into these
thiosemicarbazone ligands, linked to the carbonylic carbon via
one or two intervening atoms, normally results in D,N,S
tricoordination (3).
2,4,5
In this note we report the chemistry of
two ruthenium and osmium complexes of the same ligand, Viz.
salicylaldehyde thiosemicarbazone (Hsaltsc, where H stands for
the dissociable proton). Though free Hsaltsc exists in the thione
form (4),
6
it is known to coordinate as a dianionic tridentate
O,N,S donor.
5
Reaction of Hsaltsc with [M(PPh
3
)
3
X
2
] (M )
Ru, Os; X ) Cl, Br) afforded complexes of the type [M(PPh
3
)
2
-
(saltsc)
2
] where the salicylaldehyde thiosemicarbazone ligand
is coordinated, in spite of having the phenolic oxygen as the
potential third donor site, as a bidentate N,S-donor ligand,
forming a four-membered chelate ring (5). The steric bulk of
the coligand PPh
3
appears to be the driving force for this rather
unexpected coordination mode of the salicylaldehyde thiosemi-
carbazone ligand. The syntheses, characterization, and cyclic
voltammetric properties of these two [M(PPh
3
)
2
(saltsc)
2
] com-
plexes are described here.
Experimental Section
Materials. [Ru(PPh3)3Cl2] and [Os(PPh3)3Br2] were synthesized
according to reported procedures.
7
Salicylaldehyde thiosemicarbazone
(Hsaltsc) was prepared by reacting equimolar amounts of salicylalde-
hyde and thiosemicarbazide in hot ethanol. Purification of dichlo-
romethane and preparation of tetraethylammonium perchlorate (TEAP)
for electrochemical work were performed as reported in the literature.
8
Preparation of [Ru(PPh3)2(saltsc)2]. To a solution of Hsaltsc (42
mg, 0.22 mmol) in ethanol (40 mL) was added [Ru(PPh
3)3Cl2] (100
mg, 0.10 mmol) followed by NEt
3 (0.22 mg, 0.22 mmol). The resulting
mixture was stirred for 30 min at ambient temperature. The yellow
precipitate of [Ru(PPh
3)2(saltsc)2] was collected by filtration, washed
thoroughly with ethanol, and dried in air. Recrystallization of the crude
product from 1:1 dichloromethane-hexane solution gave [Ru(PPh
3)2-
(saltsc)
2] as a golden yellow crystalline solid. Yield: 72%. Anal. Calcd
for C
52H46N6O2P2S2Ru: C, 61.60; H, 4.54; N, 8.29. Found: C, 61.54;
H, 4.59; N, 8.26.
Preparation of [Os(PPh
3)2(saltsc)2]. This was prepared by fol-
lowing the above procedure (except that stirring was continued for 2 h
at 60 °C) using [Os(PPh
3)3Br2] instead of [Ru(PPh3)3Cl2]. Yield: 67%.
Anal. Calcd for C
52H46N6O2P2S2Os: C, 56.62; H, 4.17; N, 7.62.
Found: C, 56.54; H, 4.21; N, 7.58.
Physical Measurements. Microanalyses (C, H, N) were performed
using a Perkin-Elmer 240C elemental analyzer. IR spectra were
obtained on a Perkin-Elmer 783 spectrometer with samples prepared
as KBr pellets. Electronic spectra were recorded on a Simadzu UV-
1601 spectrophotometer. Magnetic susceptibilities were measured using
a PAR 155 vibrating-sample magnetometer.
1
H NMR spectra were
obtained on a Bruker AC-200 NMR spectrometer using TMS as the
internal standard. Electrochemical measurements were made using a
PAR model 273 potentiostat. A platinum-disk working electrode, a
platinum-wire auxiliary electrode, and an aqueous saturated calomel
reference electrode (SCE) were used in a three-electrode configuration.
A platinum-wire gauze electrode was used in the coulometric experi-
ments. An RE 0074 X-Y recorder was used to trace the voltammo-
grams. Electrochemical measurements were made under a dinitrogen
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Published on November 19, 1997 on http://pubs.acs.org | doi: 10.1021/ic9705094