Redox Kinetics and Mechanisms of Reactions of Ruthenium Dimer

It has been reported that in oxo–bridged systems having the Ru–O–Ru moiety, chemically significant interactions exist between the Ru atoms through the bridging ligand.Such compounds manifest unusual physical and chemical properties. This is possibly as a result of the strong Ru–O–Ru interaction which makes the separate Ru3+ ions lose their identity since the valence levels which largely determine these properties are molecular orbitals delocalised over the Ru–O–Ru linkage. The oxo-bridged ruthenium dimer has been synthesised, characterised and a lot of kinetic data have been documented as regards its redox behaviour with some reducing agents such as l – cysteine,glutathione, iodide, sulphite, 2 – mercaptoethanol and 2– mercaptoethylamine, ascorbic acid,bromate and 1, 4- benzenediol. Further work on the redox behaviour of diaquotetrakis(2,2’- bipyridine) - μ - oxodiruthenium (III) ion is important due to the versatility of the ruthenium dimer for their potential use in diverse areas such as photosensitizers for photochemical conversion of solar energy.