The resulting zinc salt 8 was isolated by simple filtration as a canary-yellow solid with excellent yield (90%; see Scheme 2A). It is worth mentioning that such simple three-step protocol does not require any special conditions and is perfectly suitable to enable large-scale synthesis (tested up to 100 g; for details, see SI). Interestingly, by simple hydrolysing of intermediate 7 it was possible to isolate quinoxaline-2,3-dithiol 9 (more precisely-its tautomeric form-quinoxaline-2,3-dithione, 10). (Predominance of dithione (=S) form 10 over dithiol (-SH) 9 in a tautomeric equilibrium visibly differentiates this compound from the thiocatechol ligand precursor). The dithioquinoxaline zinc salt 8 was then reacted in THF (RT, 8 h) with the commercially available ruthenium precursor Ru4 leading to a new complex Ru3 (Scheme 2A). Subsequent filtration through Celite ® and concentration under reduced pressure, gave the corresponding ruthenium complex Ru3 as a brownish solid in 95% yield (note that this step requires strict exclusion of air).