Reaction pathways of 2,2,2-trifluoroethylamine and n-butylamine with [Ru(bpy)2(NO)Cl]2+

The reaction of [Ru(bpy)2(NO)Cl]2+ with 2,2,2-trifluoroethylamine produced [Ru(bpy)2(NO)Cl]+ by electron transfer and a number of organic compounds formed via nucleophilic substitution of the intermediate 2,2,2-trifluoroethyldiazonium ion (free or coordinated). Density functional theory computed results suggest that stabilization of the trifluoroethyldiazonium ion by complexation is much larger than the one corresponding to the butyl ion, in agreement with the fact that no rearrangement products derived from CF3CH2+ were observed.