Synthesis, structure and properties of a novel self-assembled tetranuclear copper(II) complex derived from carboxylate-based multidentate ligand

Ancillary-Ligand-Assisted Variation in Nuclearities Leading to the Formation of Di-, Tri-, and Tetranuclear Copper(II) Complexes with Multifaceted Carboxylate Coordination Chemistry

The self-assembly of a carboxylate-based dinucleating ligand, N,N'-bis[2-carboxybenzomethyl]-N,N'-bis[2-pyridylmethyl]-1,3-diaminopropan-2-ol (H₃cpdp), and copper(II) ions in the presence of various exogenous ancillary ligands results in the formation of the new dinuclear complex [Cu₂(cpdp)(μ-Hisophth)]₄·2H₂isophth·21H₂O (1), trinuclear complex [Cu₃(Hcpdp)(Cl)₄] (2), and tetranuclear complex [Cu₄(cpdp)(μ-Hphth)(μ₄-phth)(piconol)(Cl)₂]·3H₂O (3) (H₂phth = phthalic acid; H₂isophth = isophthalic acid; piconol = 2-pyridinemethanol; Cl^- = chloride). In methanol-water, the reaction of H₃cpdp with CuCl₂·2H₂O at room temperature leads to the formation of 2. On the other hand, 1 and 3 have been obtained by carrying out the reaction of H₃cpdp with CuCl₂·2H₂O/m-C₆H₄(CO₂Na)₂ and CuCl₂·2H₂O/o-C₆H₄(CO₂Na)₂/piconol, respectively, in methanol-water in the presence of NaOH at ambient temperature. All three complexes have been characterized by elemental analysis, molar electrical conductivity and magnetic moment measurements, FTIR, UV-vis spectroscopy, and PXRD, including single-crystal X-ray structural analyses. The molecular structure of 1 is based on a μ-alkoxide and μ-isophthalate-bridged dimeric [Cu₂] core; the structure of 2 represents a trimeric [Cu₃] core in which a μ-alcohol-bridged dinuclear [Cu₂] unit is exclusively coupled with a [CuCl₂] species by two μ:η¹:η¹-syn-anti carboxylate groups forming a triangular motif; the structure of 3 embodies a tetrameric [Cu₄] core, with two copper(II) ions in a distorted-octahedral coordination environment, one copper(II) ion in a distorted-trigonal-bipyramidal coordination environment, and the other copper(II) ion in a square-planar coordination environment. In fact, 2 and 3 represent rare examples of copper(II)-based multinuclear complexes showing outstanding features of rich coordination chemistry: (i) using a symmetrical dinucleating ligand, trinuclear complex 2 is generated with four- and five-coordination environments around copper(II) ions; (ii) the unsymmetrical tetranuclear complex 3 is obtained by using the same ligand with four-, five- and six-coordination environments around copper(II) ions; (iii) tetracopper(II) complex 3 shows four different bridging modes of carboxylate groups simultaneously such as μ:η², μ:η¹:η¹, μ₃:η²:η¹:η¹, and μ₄:η¹:η¹:η¹:η¹, the μ₄:η¹:η¹:η¹:η¹ mode of phthalate being unprecedented. The formation of these [Cu₂], [Cu₃], and [Cu₄] complexes can be controlled by changing the exogenous ancillary ligands and pH of the reaction solutions, thus allowing an effective tuning of the self-assembly. The magnetic susceptibility measurements suggest that the copper centers in all three complexes are antiferromagnetically coupled. The thermal properties of 1-3 have been investigated by thermogravimetric and differential thermal analytical (TGA and DTA) techniques, indicating that the decomposition of all three complexes proceeds via multistep processes.

A tetra-nuclear nickel(II) complex, [Ni4(L)4](ClO4)4·C2H3N·2H2O, with an asymmetric Ni4O4 open-cubane-like core

A tetra-nuclear complex with an open-cubane-like core structure was synthesized from 2-meth-oxy-6-(pyridin-2-yl-hydrazonometh-yl)phenol (HL), namely, cyclo-tetra-kis-(μ-2-meth-oxy-6-{[2-(pyridin-2-yl)hydrazin-1-yl-idene]meth-yl}pheno-lato)tetra-nickel(II) tetra-kis-(perchlorate) aceto-nitrile monosolvate dihydrate, [Ni4(C13H12N3O2)4](ClO4)4·C2H3N·2H2O, and characterized using micro-analytical and spectroscopic techniques. The crystal-structure determination reveals the formation of a distorted Ni4O4 cubane-like core architecture encapsulated by four hydrazone Schiff base (HL) mol-ecules. A open-cube tetra-nuclear architecture is created in which nickel(II) ions of the NiN2O3 unit are connected by μ2-O anions of the phenolate moiety of HL. In this complex, each Ni centre has a slightly distorted square-pyramidal coordination environment. The supra-molecular architectures are stabilized via the presence of various inter-molecular hydrogen bonds and (ar-yl-aryl, ar-yl-chelate and chelate-chelate) stacking inter-actions.

Hexanuclear copper(II) complex of 2-hy-droxy-N,N'-bis-[1-(2-hy-droxy-phen-yl)ethyl-idene]propane-1,3-di-amine incorporating an open-cubane core

The title mol-ecular structure, namely, di-aqua-tris-(μ3-1,3-bis-{[1-(2-oxidophen-yl)ethyl-idene]amino}-propan-2-olato)-μ3-hydroxido-dinitrato-hexa-copper(II) ethanol tris-olvate, [Cu6(C19H19N2O3)3(NO3)2(OH)(H2O)2]·3C2H5OH, corres-ponds to a non-symmetric hexa-nuclear copper complex. The complex exhibits one core in which three CuII metal centres are mutually inter-connected, two by two, via three phenolato oxygen anions acting in a μ2-mode. These three copper cations are inter-connected in a μ3-mode by one hydroxyl group. An open-cube structure is generated in which each of the CuII cations of the three CuO4N units is connected by two μ2-O anions from phenolate groups and one μ3-O atom from a hy-droxy anion. Each of the three penta-coordinated CuII cations situated in the open-cube unit has a distorted NO4 square-pyramidal environment. Each of these three CuII centres is inter-connected with another CuII cation via one enolate O atom in μ2-mode, yielding one CuNO4 unit and two CuNO3 units. The penta-coordinated CuII atom has a distorted square-pyramidal environment while the two tetra-coordinated copper(II) cations are situated in a square-planar environment. A series of intra-molecular O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds are observed. In the crystal, the units are connected two by two by inter-molecular C-H⋯O and O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, thus forming sheets parallel to the ac plane.