(1,6,7,12-Tetraazaperylene-kappa N-2,N ')bis(4,4 ',5,5 '-tetramethyl-2,2 '-bipyridyl- kappa N-2,N ') ruthenium(II) bis(hexafluoridophosphate) acetonitrile trisolvate

In the title compound, rac-[Ru(C14H16N2)(2)(C16H8N4)](PF6)(2)center dot 3C(2)H(3)N, discrete dimers of complex cations, [Ru(tmbpy)(2)tape](2+), of opposite chirality are formed (tmbpy = tetramethylbipyridine; tape = tetraazaperylene), held together by pi-pi stacking interactions between the tetraazaperylene moieties with centroid-centroid distances in the range 3.563 (3)-3.837 (3) angstrom. These interactions exhibit a parallel displaced pi-pi stacking mode. Additional weak C-H center dot center dot center dot pi -ring and C-H center dot center dot center dot N and C-H center dot center dot center dot F interactions are found, leading to a three-dimensional architecture. The Ru-II atom is coordinated in a distorted octahedral geometry. The counter-charge is provided by two hexafluoridophosphate anions and the asymmetric unit is completed by three acetonitrile solvent molecules of crystallization. Four F atoms of one PF6- anion are disordered over three sets of sites with occupancies of 0.517 (3):0.244 (3):0.239 (3). Two acetonitrile solvent molecules are highly disordered and their estimated scattering contribution was subtracted from the observed diffraction data using the SQUEEZE option in PLATON [Spek (2009). Acta Cryst. D65, 148-155].