Half-Sandwich Ruthenium(II) Complexes of Click Generated 1,2,3-Triazole Based Organosulfur/-selenium Ligands: Structural and Donor Site Dependent Catalytic Oxidation and Transfer Hydrogenation Aspects

1-Benzyl-4-((phenylthio)-/(phenylseleno)methyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazole (L1/L2) and 4-phenyl-1-((phenylthio)-/(phenylseleno)methyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazole (L3/L4) synthesized using the click reaction have been reacted for the first time with [{(η6-C6H6)RuCl(μ-Cl)}2] and NH4PF6 to design the half-sandwich complexes [(η6-benzene)RuLCl]PF6 (1–4 for L = L1–L4), which have been characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and explored for the catalytic oxidation of alcohols with N-methylmorpholine N-oxide (NMO) and transfer hydrogenation of ketones with 2-propanol. There is a pseudo-octahedral “piano-stool” disposition of donor atoms around Ru in 1–4. In 1 and 2, N(3) of the triazole skeleton coordinates with Ru, whereas in other complexes the nitrogen involved is N(2). The Ru–S and Ru–Se bond distances are 2.3847(11)/2.3893(10) and 2.497(5)/2.4859(9) A, respectively. The catalytic processes are more efficient with 3 and 4 (compared to 1 and 2), in which N(2) of the triazole is involved in coordination with Ru. The ...