The first report of the isolation and characterisation of an intermediate formed upon photolysis of a ruthenium(II) diimine compound, in which one of the chelating ligands is bound in a monodentate fashion

The isolation and characterisation of an intermediate produced upon photolysis of [Ru(bipy)2(L–L′)](PF6)2 in MeCN [bipy = 2,2′-bipyridyl and L–L′= 4-methyl-3-(pyridin-2-yl)-1,2,4-triazole], in which L-L′ is coordinated to the metal centre in a monodentate fashion, via the nitrogen of the triazole ring, is reported; this photochemically induced reaction can be reversed thermally.