Carbon dioxide complexes, osmium

Polymers containing all metal backbones of Ru-Ru or Os-Os bonds have been prepared via the electrochemical reduction of ruthenium and osmium complexes containing /ram-chloride ligands.81,82 Scheme 2.6 shows the synthesis of polymers with their backbones comprised solely of metal-metal bonds. The polymers were prepared by reducing [Mn(/ran.s-Cl2)(bipyXCO)2] (M = Ru, Os), 33, to M° complexes and forming the polymer after the loss of the chloride ligands. In both cases, the polymers were selective for the reduction of carbon dioxide. 

As many carbonate complexes are synthesized usually in aqueous solution under fairly alkaline conditions, the possibility of contamination by hydroxy species is often a problem. To circumvent this, the use of bicarbonate ion (via saturation of sodium carbonate solution with COj) rather than the carbonate ion can often avoid the precipitation of these contaminants. Many other synthetic methods use carbon dioxide as their starting point. Transition metal hydroxo complexes are, in general, capable of reacting with CO2 to produce the corresponding carbonate complex. The rate of CO2 uptake, which depends upon the nucleophilicity of the OH entity, proceeds by a mechanism that can be regarded as hydroxide addition across the unsaturated C02. There are few non-aqueous routes to carbonate complexes but one reaction (3), illustrative of a synthetic pathway of great potential, is that used to prepare platinum and copper complexes. Ruthenium and osmium carbonate complexes result from the oxidation of coordinated carbon monoxide by dioxygen insertion (4). ... 

Electrochemical reduction of ruthenium and osmium complexes containing /ra i-chloride ligands leads to metal-containing polymers in which metal-metal bonds make up the entire polymer backbone. Hence, reduction of [M (tran5-Cl2) (bipy)(CO)2l (M=Ru, Os) (77) to M complexes generated a polymeric film (78) after loss of the chloride ligands (Scheme 23). Both the ruthenium- and osmium-based coordination polymers were selective for the reduction of carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide and formate. 

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