Long Range Metal‐Metal Interactions Along Fe−NC−Ru−CN−Fe Chains

Trinuclear complexes with linear Fe II −NC−Ru II −CN−Fe II arrays were obtained by attachment of FeCp(dppe) units to the cyanoruthenium complexes trans ‐[Ru(CN) 2 (Py) 4 ] (Py = pyridine, 4‐methylpyridine, 4‐ethylpyridine) . From their cyclic voltammograms it can be concluded that there are long‐range metal−metal interactions between their external iron centers. Partial oxidation led to the isolation of the corresponding mixed‐valent Fe II −NC−Ru II −CN−Fe III complexes. For these the long range metal−metal interactions are evident from a broad MMCT band in the NIR spectra. The MMCT properties were quantified by an analysis using the Hush formalism. (© Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2004)