The reaction of CuCl
2∙2H
2O, (
E)-2-hydroxy-1,2-di(pyridin-2-yl)ethanone oxime (α-pyroxH
2) and Et
3N in refluxing MeOH gave complex [Cu
12Cl
12(mpydol)
4(pydox)
2(MeOH)
4] (
1), where mpydol
2− is the dianion of 1,2-dimethoxy-1,2-di(pyridin-2-yl)ethane-1,2-diol and pydox
2− is the dianion of (
E,
E)-1,2-di(pyridin-2-yl)ethanedione dioxime. “Blind” experiments have proven that the transformation of α-pyroxH
2 is copper(II)-assisted. By changing the solvent from MeOH to MeCN, the polymeric compound {[Cu
4Cl
4(pic)
4]}
n (
2) was isolated; pic
− is the pyridine-2-carboxylato(-1) ligand. The observed α-pyroxH
2 → pic
− transformation is also copper(II)-assisted. The topology of the metal ions in
1 can be described as consisting of four consecutive isosceles triangles in a zigzag configuration. Complex
2 is a 2D coordination polymer consisting of Cu
II4 squares. Complete mechanistic views for the α-pyroxH
2 → mpydol
2−, pydox
2− and pic
− transformations are critically discussed. In
1, the six Cu
II ions of the “central” triangles seem to be strongly antiferromagnetically coupled, thus cancelling out their spins (
= 0). The two local spins of
S = 1/2 for each of the antiferromagnetically coupled “terminal” Cu
II3 triangles result in an overall
S = 1 ground state spin value for
1. In
2, the four Cu
II ions within each tetrameric unit are practically isolated and ferromagnetic interactions occur between these units through Cu
II–(
μ-Cl)–Cu
II bridges.
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