Novel triazole-based ligands and their zinc(II) and nickel(II) complexes with a nitrogen donor environment as potential structural models for mononuclear active sites

Three new 1,2,3-triazole-based ligands with an N,N,N coordination core were prepared using a convergent synthetic protocol starting from racemic 2-amino-1-phenylethanol. They were tested as chelators for biorelevant ZnII or NiII ions. An N,N,N ligand with a terminal amino functionality coordinated the ZnII in a bidentate fashion, not including the triazole nitrogen. The ligand with two pendant 2-pyridyl groups acted as a tridentate ligand without an N2-triazole coordination to ZnII, while the ligand containing one 2-pyridyl group acted as an inverse-click chelator for NiII ions.