Mononuclear hydridocarbonyl ruthenium complexes incorporating N2O2 bis-chelating ligands

The reactions of [RuH(CO)Cl(PPh3)3] with N,N′-bis(salicylidine)-hydrazine (H2bsh) and N,N′-bis(salicylidine)-p-phenylene diammine (H2bsp) in presence of KOH in methanol led in the formation of neutral mononuclear complexes with the formulations [RuH(CO)(PPh3)2(L)] (LHbsh or Hbsp). These present the first examples where the ligands H2bsh or H2bsp provide only two of its available donor sites for interaction with the metal centre. The complexes have been characterized by elemental analyses, FAB-MS, IR, 1H, 13C, 31P NMR and electronic spectral studies. Molecular structure of the representative complex [RuH(CO)(PPh3)2(Hbsh)] have been determined by single crystal X-ray analysis.