Electrochemical synthesis and structural characterization of Co(II), Ni(II) and Cu(II) complexes of N,N-bis(4,5-dimethyl-2-hydroxybenzyl)-N-(2-pyridylmethyl)amine.

The electrochemical oxidation of anodic metal (cobalt, nickel or copper) in a cell containing an acetonitrile solution of the ligand N,N-bis(4,5-dimethyl-2-hydroxybenzyl)-N-(2-pyridylmethyl)amine (H2L) affords complexes [Co2L2].H2O (1), [Ni3L3] (2) and [Cu2L2] 3H2O (4). On using nickel as the anode and the addition to the solution electrolytic phase of the amount of water necessary to saturate the solution, the electrolytic process gave rise to the new compound [Ni2L2(H2O)1.5].CH3CN (3). Compounds 1 and 4 are dimeric and the metal atoms are pentacoordinated. Compound 3 also consists of dimeric neutral molecules with the nickel atoms in both penta- and hexacoordinated environments. The cryst…