N,N',N'' versus N,N',O imine-containing coordination motifs: ligand-directed synthesis of mononuclear and binuclear CuII compounds.

Abstract

It is demonstrated here that tridentate imine ligands can control the nuclearity of copper(II) complexes based on the donor atoms present in the ligand. The N,N',N''-donating imine ligand led to a mononuclear compound, namely di-chlorido-[N,N-dimethyl-N'-(pyridin-2-yl-methyl-idene)ethane-1,2-di-amine]copper(II) monohydrate, [CuCl₂(C₁₀H₁₅N₃)]·H₂O, 1, while the N,N',O-donating imine ligand produced a binuclear metal complex, namely μ₂-chlorido-di-chlorido-(μ₂-2-{[2-(di-methyl-amino)-ethyl]imino-methyl}phenolato)(N,N-dimethyl-ethylene-di-amine)-dicopper(II) 0.11-hydrate, [Cu₂(C₁₁H₁₅N₂O)Cl₃(C₄H₁₂N₂)]·0.11H₂O, 2. The structure of 2 is a remarkable example of a binuclear copper(II) complex containing a single substituted 2-imino-methyl-phenolate ligand that has two copper(II) sites in square-pyramidal coordination.