A novel cationic dinuclear ruthenium complex: Synthesis, characterization and catalytic activity in the transfer hydrogenation of ketones

A novel cationic dinuclear ruthenium complex [RuCl(HL)(TFTPP)]2 (H2L = 2,6-bis(5-phenyl-1H-pyrazol-3-yl)pyridine; TFTPP = tri(p-trifluoromethylphenyl)phosphine) has been synthesized and characterized by 31P{1H} NMR, 1H NMR, elemental analysis and X-ray crystallography. This complex is the first cationic dinuclear ruthenium complex bearing N4 ligand characterized by single crystal X-ray analysis. It exhibits good catalytic activity for the transfer hydrogenation of ketones in refluxing 2-propanol.