Binuclear ruthenium macrocycles formed via the weak-link approach
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Updated: Aug 19, 2026

The Synthesis, Characterization and Reactivity of a Series of Ruthenium N-triphosPh Complexes
Published on: April 10, 2015
Meisa S Khoshbin1, Maxim V Ovchinnikov, Chad A Mirkin
1Department of Chemistry and Institute for Nanotechnology, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA.
Abstract:
The "weak-link approach" for the synthesis of metallomacrocycles has been used to synthesize a series of novel Ru(II) macrocycles in high yield. RuCl2(PPh3)3 has been reacted with two different phosphino-alkyl-ether hemilabile ligands, 1,4-(PPh2(CH2)2O)2C6H4 and 1,4-(PPh2(CH2)2OCH2)2C6H4. The hemilabile bidentate ligand coordinates to Ru(II) centers through both the P and O atoms to form bimetallic "condensed intermediates". The weak Ru-O bonds have been selectively cleaved with CO, 1,2-diaminopropane, and pyridine to yield large open macrocycles. This is the first example of the weak-link approach employed to synthesize macrocycles with Ru, and metal centers in general that have more than four coordination sites.
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