Arene ruthenium complexes in supramolecular chemistry

For many years, the use of arene ruthenium complexes in catalysis and bioinorganic chemistry has showed great promises due to their chemical properties, but opportunities remain in supramolecular chemistry where arene ruthenium units are still poorly exploited. The strength of coordination bonds offers limitless possibilities in the field of supramolecular chemistry. The choice of the ligand can fine-tune the stability of the complex, thus setting up its application. Robust complexes are required for repetitive processes (catalysis, sensing, host–guest chemistry), or when the initial complex needs to be recovered or reused. However, for a single or highly specific task (drug delivery, bioimaging, metal-based drug) decomplexation (decomposition) can also be acceptable and even beneficial. In this chapter, all kinds of systems involving arene ruthenium complexes are discussed and illustrated with selected examples. The purpose of this chapter is not to provide a comprehensive review showing all arene ruthenium complexes that can be found in the literature, but mostly to highlight some of the new directions followed by these versatile complexes in supramolecular chemistry.