Patent ID: 7825250

Claim:
An asymmetric binuclear metal complex represented by the general formula: (L 1 ) 2 M 1 (BL)M 2 (L 2 ) 2 (X) n wherein M 1 and M 2 , which may be identical or different, represent ruthenium (Ru), osmium (Os), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu) or iron (Fe); L 1 represents a ligand represented by the formula (L 1 -A): wherein H in —COOH may be liberated; and R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 5 and R 6 independently represent hydrogen, alkyl containing 1 to 6 carbon atoms, or alkoxy containing 1 to 6 carbon atoms, or alternatively, R 2 and R 3 , R 4 and R 5 , or R 1 and R 6 may form a substituted or unsubstituted six-membered aromatic hydrocarbon ring together with the carbon atoms to which they are bound; L 2 represents a ligand represented by the formula (L 2 -A): wherein R 11 , R 12 , R 13 , R 14 , R 15 , R 16 , R 17 and R 18 independently represent hydrogen, alkyl containing 1 to 6 carbon atoms, or alkoxy containing 1 to 6 carbon atoms, or alternatively, adjacent two of R 11 to R 18 or R 11 to R 18 may form a substituted or unsubstituted six-membered aromatic hydrocarbon ring together with the carbon atoms to which they are bound; and two L 1 s may be different and two L 2 s may be different; BL represents a bridge ligand represented by the formula (BL-C): wherein R 51 , R 52 , R 53 and R 54 independently represent hydrogen, alkyl containing 1 to 6 carbon atoms, or alkoxy containing 1 to 6 carbon atoms, or alternatively, adjacent two of R 51 to R 54 may form a substituted or unsubstituted six-membered aromatic hydrocarbon ring together with the carbon atoms to which they are bound; and R 55 , R 56 , R 57 and R 58 independently represent hydrogen, alkyl containing 1 to 6 carbon atoms, or alkoxy containing 1 to 6 carbon atoms, or alternatively, adjacent two of R 55 to R 58 may form a substituted or unsubstituted six-membered aromatic hydrocarbon ring together with the carbon atoms to which they are bound, the heteroatoms contained in the cyclic structures being ligand atoms coordinating to M 1 and M 2 ; X represents a counter ion; and n is the number of counter ions needed to neutralize the charge of the complex.