Synthesis, structure, and characterization of some ruthenium arene complexes of N-(arylmethylene)-2-(methylthio)anilines and 2-(methylthio)aniline

A series of cationic, half-sandwich ruthenium complexes with the general formula [(η6-p-cymene)RuCl(MeSsingle bondC6H4single bond2-Ndouble bond; length as m-dashCHAr)][PF6] (3a–h), have been prepared from the reaction of [(η6-p-cymene)RuCl2]2 with various N,S-donor Schiff base ligands derived from 2-(methylthio)aniline and several substituted benzaldehydes. The related aniline complex [(η6-p-cymene)RuCl(MeS–C6H4–2-NH2)][PF6] (4) was synthesized from 2-(methylthio)aniline. All of the ruthenium complexes were characterized by IR, 1H NMR, and UV/Vis spectroscopies. The molecular structure of complex 4 was determined by X-ray crystallography.