The very covalent diammino(o-benzoquinonediimine) dichlororuthenium(II). An example of very strong pi-back-donation.

The syntheses and X-ray structures of the complexes Ru(S-dmso)Cl2(opda) (1) and Ru(NH3)2Cl2(bqdi) (2) are described (opda= o-phenylenediamine, bqdi= o-benzoquinonediimine). Optical absorption and emission, vibrational (resonance Raman), and electrochemical data are discussed. We explore the nature of the ruthenium benzoquinone electronic interaction in species 2 primarily within the framework of density functional theory (DFT) but also using INDO/S to extract Coulombic and exchange integrals. The resonance Raman and emission data were understood in terms of a common set of coupled vibrations localized primarily within the ruthenium metallacycle ring. Experimental and computational data were also compared among a select group of ruthenium bqdi species with other spectator ligands, specifically ammonia, 2,2'-bipyridine, and 2,4-pentanedione. The changes in the electrochemistry, optical spectroscopy, and vibrational spectra with changing spectator ligand donicity were explained within a common theoretical (DFT) model which further provided a detailed analysis of the variation in the molecular orbital descriptions. With the application of an extended charge decomposition analysis (ECDA), a detailed picture emerged of the bonding between the bqdi ligand and the metal atom, illustrating the coupling between the orbitals of each fragment as a function of orbital symmetry and charge transfer between the fragments of the complex. Metal-to-bqdi pi-back-donation is seen to be very important.