Reaction of ruthenium(III) chloride with imidazole(Im) and different substituted imidazoles,viz. N-methylimidazole (N-MeIm), 2-methylimidazole(2-MeIm), 4-methylimidazole (4-MeIm),N-vinylimidazole(N-VIm), 2-methyl- 1-vinyl-imidazole(2-Me-1-VIm), 1,2-dimethylimidazole(1,2-Me,Im), 2-ethylimidazole(2-EtIm) and 2-ethyl-4(5)-methylimidazole (2-Et-4(5)-MeIm] yield products of the types [Ru2L′4Cl6] · 2 H2O (L = N-VIm or 4-MeIm), [Ru2L4Cl6] · 4 H2O (L′ = Im or 2-Et-4(5)-MeIm), [Ru2L″3(H2O)Cl6] (L″ =N-MeIm or 2-MeIm), [Ru2L‴2(H2O)2Cl6] (L‴ = 1,2-Me2Im or 4-MeIm), [Ru(2-Me-1-VIm)3Cl3] · H2O and [Ru(2-EtIm)3(H2O)Cl2]. These compounds were characterised by elemental analyses, conductometric measurements, i.r. and electronic spectral analyses. Magnetic moments range from 1.01 to 1.9 B.M. The e.s.r. spectra and g values of some of the compounds are indicative of high distortion.