Coordination chemistry of amine bis(phenolate) cobalt(II), nickel(II), and copper(II) complexes

Cobalt(II), nickel(II), and copper(II) (1, 2, and 3) complexes of the dianionic form of the bis(phenolate) ligand N,N-bis(3,4-dimethyl-2-hydroxybenzyl)-N‘,N‘-dimethylethylenediamine (H2L) have been synthesized by electrochemical oxidation of the appropriate metal in an acetonitrile solution of the ligand. When copper is used as the anode, the addition of 1,10-phenanthroline to the electrolytic phase gave rise to a different compound [CuL]2·2CH3CN (4). The compounds [CoL]2·2CH3CN (1), [Ni2L2(H2O)]·H2O (2), [CuL]2·3H2O (3), and [CuL]2·2CH3CN (4) were characterized by microanalysis, IR, electronic spectroscopy, FAB mass spectrometry, magnetic measurements and by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The crystal structures show that the complexes have a dinuclear structure. In compounds 1, 3, and 4, two metal ions are coordinated by the two amine nitrogens and the two phenol oxygen atoms of a deprotonated pendant phenol ligand, with one phenolic oxygen atom from ligand acting as a bridge. In compounds 1 and 3, ea...