Electrochemical investigations of oligomers and polymers containing ruthenium- and iron-arene complexes.

Cyclic voltammetry was employed to investigate the electrochemical behavior of numerous cyclopentadienyliron (CpFe+) and pentamethyl-cyclopentadienylruthenium (Cp*Ru+) coordinated oligomers and polymers. The electrochemical behavior of the iron systems indicated the cyclopentadienyliron complexes had isolated redox centers and that changes in the reversibility of the redox couple occurred with changes in solvent and temperature. In contrast, the monometallic ruthenium systems showed large peak separations that suggested slow kinetics on the CV timescale. The cyclic voltammograms of the larger ruthenium-containing oligomers and polymers showed multiple redox steps indicating complex electrochemical behavior.