Abstract
Ruthenium(III) complexes of the type trans-[Ru(L)
2
(AsPh
3
)
2
]Cl (L = mono anions of 4-hydroxy-3-(p-X-phenylazo)-benzopyrane-2-one derivatives (For L
1
, X = H; L
2
, X = CH
3
; L
3
, X = Cl; and L
4
, X = NO
2
; AsPh
3
= triphenylarsine) have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, spectroscopic (IR, UV-VIS and ESR), magnetic and cyclic voltammetric techniques. The mechanism and the catalytic oxidation of benzyl alcohol, cyclohexanol and cinnamyl alcohol by trans-[Ru(L
1
)
2
(AsPh
3
)
2
]Cl with hydrogen peroxide as co-oxidant were described.