A trinuclear nickel(II) Schiff base complex with phenoxido- and acetato-bridges: combined experimental and theoretical magneto-structural correlation.

We describe the synthesis and characterization of a new trinuclear Ni(ii) Schiff base complex of formula [Ni3(L)2(NCS)2(OAc)2(CH3OH)2] (1) where HL is the 1 : 1 condensation product of 2-picolylamine and o-vanillin. The crystal structure of complex 1 shows that the two terminal Ni(ii) ions are connected to the central one through a phenoxido- and a syn-syn acetato bridge, giving rise to a very bent configuration in the Ni3-core. Magnetic susceptibility measurements show the presence of a weak antiferromagnetic coupling with J = -3.22(2) cm-1. We also report a magneto-structural correlation, performed with all the magnetically characterized Ni(ii) trimers with similar bridges, showing a linear dependence between the J value and the dihedral angle (θ) between the planes containing the Ni-O-Ni and the carboxylate bridges. The super-exchange interaction is investigated by extensive density functional calculations within the broken symmetry approximation which show good agreement with the experimental data. The analysis of the spin density distribution and the shape of the magnetically active single occupied molecular orbitals (SOMO) provide a mechanism of exchange coupling through the bridging groups.

Series of dicyanamide-interlaced assembly of zinc-Schiff-base complexes: crystal structure and photophysical and thermal studies.

Four new dicyanamide (dca) bridged multinuclear Zn(II)-Schiff-base complexes, {[Zn2L(1)(µ1,5-dca)dca]·CH3OH}2 (1), [Zn2L(2)(µ1,5-dca)dca]n (2), [Zn3L(3)2(µ1,5-dca)2]n (3), and [(ZnL(4))2Zn(µ1,5-dca)dca]n (4), have been synthesized using four different Schiff bases L(1)H2 = N,N(/)-bis(3-methoxysalicylidenimino)-1,3-diaminopentane, L(2)H2 = N,N'-bis(5-bromo-3-methoxysalicylidenimino)-1,3-diaminopropane, L(3)H2 = N,N'-bis(5-bromosalicylidenimino)-1,3-diaminopropane, and L(4)H2 = N,N'-bis(5-chlorosalicylidenimino)-1,3-diaminopropane and NaN(CN)2 in order to extend the metal-ligand assembly. The directional properties of linear end-to-end bridging dca ligands have resulted in different metal ion connectivities leading to unique variety of templates in each of the complexes. All the ligands and complexes have been characterized by microanalytical and spectroscopic techniques. The structures of the complexes have been conclusively determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction studies. Thermogravimetric analyses have been performed to investigate the thermal stability of the metal-organic frameworks. Finally, the photoluminescence properties of the complexes as well as their respective ligands have been investigated with a comparative approach.