Rage Against Conformity: Ruthenium(ɪɪ) Bisterpyridine Complexes Respond to Crystal Engineering Instructions with Whelming Results

Abstract

Four heteroleptic ruthenium(ii) complexes of 4′-functionalised 2,2′:6′,2′′-terpyridine are reported, along with their solid-state single-crystal X-ray structures. The complexes feature complementary hydrogen-bond donor (phenol) and acceptor (pyridyl) groups designed to assemble into one-dimensional polymers. In one example, the system obeys the programmed instructions to form a one-dimensional, self-complementary hydrogen-bonded polymer. In one other example, a water-bridged hydrogen-bonded polymer is formed. In the remaining two structures, aryl–aryl interactions dominate the intermolecular interactions, and outweigh the contribution of intermolecular hydrogen bonding.