(4′-Ethynyl-2,2′:6′,2′′-terpyridine)(2,2′:6′,2′′-terpyridine)­ruthenium(II) bis­(hexa­fluoridophosphate) acetonitrile disolvate

The title heteroleptic bis--terpyridine complex, [Ru(C(15)H(11)N(3))(C(17)H(11)N(3))](PF(6))(2)·2CH(3)CN, crystallized from an acetonitrile solution as a salt containing two hexa-fluoridophosphate counter-ions and two acetonitrile solvent mol-ecules. The Ru(II) atom has a distorted octa-hedral geometry due to the restricted bite angle [157.7 (3)°] of the two mer-arranged N,N',N''-tridendate ligands, viz. 2,2':6',2''-terpyridine (tpy) and 4'-ethynyl-2,2':6',2''-terpyridine (tpy'), which are essentially perpendicular to each other, with a dihedral angle of 87.75 (12)° between their terpyridyl planes. The rod-like acetyl-ene group lies in the same plane as its adjacent terpyridyl moiety, with a maximum deviation of only 0.071 (11) Å from coplanarity with the pyridine rings. The mean Ru-N bond length involving the outer N atoms trans to each other is 2.069 (6) Å at tpy and 2.070 (6) Å at tpy'. The Ru-N bond length involving the central N atom is 1.964 (6) Å at tpy and 1.967 (6) Å at tpy'. Two of the three counter anions were refined as half-occupied.