The interplay of O-H⋯O hydrogen bonding in the generation of three new supramolecular complexes of Cu^II, Ni^II and Co^III: Syntheses, characterization and structural aspects

Three new coordination complexes, [Cu(L¹)(H₂O)] (1), [Ni(L²)₂]·CH₃CN (2) and [Co(HL³)(L³)] (3) [where H₂L¹, N,N'-bis(3-methoxysalicylidenimino)-1,3-diamino-propane; HL², 2-((E)-(1,3-dihydroxy-2-methylpropan-2-ylimino)methyl)phenol; H₂L³, 2-((E)-(2-hydroxyethylimino)methyl)-4-bromophenol] have been synthesized and systematically characterized by elemental analyses, FT-IR, electronic spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry and thermogravimetric analyses. Single crystal X-ray diffraction studies confirm that the metal center in complex 1 has distorted square-pyramidal geometry while it is distorted octahedral in the other two complexes. In all the complexes O-H?O hydrogen bondings assemble the molecular units leading to ordered supramolecular architectures. While both complexes 1 and 2 form infinite one-dimensional arrays through the self organisation of hydrogen bonded ring motifs, complex 3 is a unique star-shaped cyclic hexamer generated through intermolecular hydrogen bonding. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.