Spectrometric, catalytic, and antimicrobial studies of mononuclear Ru(III) Schiff-base complexes.

A series of air stable low spin Ru(III) complexes, [RuX2(EPh3)(L)] (where X = Cl or Br; E = P or As; L = monobasic tridentate Schiff-base ligand), have been synthesized by reacting [RuCl3(PPh3)3], [RuCl3(AsPh3)3], and [RuBr3(PPh3)3] with the Schiff base in 1 : 1 molar ratio in benzene. These complexes have been characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR, UV-Vis, and EPR spectroscopy together with magnetic susceptibility. The redox behaviors of the complexes have been investigated by cyclic voltammetric technique. Catalytic efficiency of the ruthenium complexes was determined for aryl-aryl coupling and the oxidation of primary and secondary alcohols into their corresponding aldehydes and ketones in the presence of molecular oxygen as co-oxidant. All complexes were screened for antibacterial activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]