A number of complexes were synthesized with the general formula cis-[Ru(Bipy)2(L)(Cl)](BF4), where Bipy is 2,2"-bipyridine, L is pyridyne (Py), 4-aminopyridine (4-NH2py), 4-picoline (4-Mepy), nicotin-amide (3-CONH2py), isonicotinamide (4-CONH2py), 3- and 4-cyanopyridine (3-CNpy, 4-CNpy), 4,4"-bipyridine (4,4"-Bipy), trans-1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethylene (Bpe), 4,4"-azopyridine (Azpy), pyrazine (Pyz), imidazole (Imid), and NH3. The semiempirical CINDO-CI method was used to calculate the energies and intensities of transitions in the electronic absorption spectra. The differences observed in the spectra of these compounds are mainly due to the positions of the charge-transfer transitions dπ(Ru) → π*(L). Depending on the positions of these transitions, ligands L can be divided into three groups: 1) transitions Ru → L lie in the region of the first long-wavelength band dπ(Ru) → π*(Bipy) (L = Azpy, Pyz); 2) transitions Ru → L lie between the first and second bands due to the charge transfer to Bipy (L = 3-CONH2py, 4-CONH2py, 4,4"-Bipy, Bpe, 4-CNpy), and 3) transitions Ru → L lie in the region of the second band dπ(Ru) → π*(Bipy) (L = Py, 4-Mepy, 3-CNPy, 4-NH2py, Imid). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]