Synyhesis, structure, spectroscopy and redox chemistry of square-planar nickel(II) complexes with tetradentate o-phenylenedioxamidates and related ligands

[EN] A series of four-coordinate square-planar nickel(II) complexes of o-phenylenebis(N¿-methyloxamidate) (L1) and related o-phenylene(N¿-methyloxamidate)oxamate (L2) and o-phenylenebis(oxamate) (L3) tetradentate ligands have been synthesized and characterized structurally, spectroscopically and electrochemically. The parent nickel(II)¿L1 complex presents an intense MLCT band in the UV region (¿max = 357 nm) and a distinctive 1 s ¿ 4p CT satellite in the Ni K-edge XANES spectrum (E = 8339.2 eV). These features together with the short Ni¿N(amidate) bond lengths (1.85¿1.93 Å) as revealed by the analysis of the Ni K-edge EXAFS spectrum and confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction are typi…