Bucky ligands: Synthesis, ruthenium(II) complexes, and electrochemical properties

The novel tridentate 2,2':6',2 "-terpyridine ligand (1) in which the metal-binding domain is directly attached to a methanofullerene C-60 unit was incorporated into ruthenium-based diads and triads that may undergo photoinduced charge separation. In this paper, the new complexes are compared with more flexible in which the C-60 fragment is separated from the metal-binding domain by a flexible spacer. Both H-1 NMR spectroscopic and cyclic voltammetric studies reveal significant interactions between the fullerene substituent and the metal centre when they are spatially close.