Room-Temperature Photogeneration of Nitrosyl Linkage Isomers in Ruthenium Nitrosyl Complexes

The conditions for the photogeneration of NO linkage isomers at room temperature are studied. By pulsed laser irradiation in the blue spectral range, the long-lived Ru−ON isomer can be generated at room temperature, which is crucial for potential applications, such as holography and data storage. By using static and time-resolved spectroscopy (UV/Vis and IR), we give evidence that the liftime of the Ru−(η ² -(NO)) isomer is a decisive parameter for the formation of the Ru−ON isomer at high temperature owing to a two-step isomerization mechanism Ru−NO→Ru−(η ² -(NO))→Ru−ON. Furthermore, we report the low-temperature structures for each isomer, which were revealed by photocrystallography.