trans-Diaquabis(2,2′-bipyridine-κ2N,N′)ruthenium(II) bis(trifluoromethanesulfonate)

Abstract

The title compound, trans-[Ru(bpy)2(H2O)2](CF3SO3)2 (bpy = 2,2′-bipyridine, C10H8N2), crystallized from the decomposition of an aged aqueous solution of a dimeric complex of cis-Ru(bpy)2 in 0.1 M triflic acid. The RuII ion is located on a crystallographic inversion center and exhibits a distorted octahedral coordination with equivalent ligands trans to each other. The Ru—O distance is 2.1053 (16) Å and the Ru—N distances are 2.0727 (17) and 2.0739 (17) Å. The bpy ligands are bent, due to inter-ligand steric interactions between H atoms of opposite pyridyl units across the Ru center. The crystal structure exhibits an extensive hydrogen-bonding network involving the water ligands and the trifluoromethanesulfonate counter-ions within two-dimensional layers, although no close hydrogen-bond interactions exist between different layers.