Alkaline earth metal ions mediated self-assembly in the presence of 1,10-phenanthroline, nitrate and tetrafluoroborate anions

1,10-Phenanthroline (phen) was reacted with various combinations of two and in one of the cases with three alkaline earth metal cations taken in equimolar ratio. In all the competitive reactions it was obtained only one product free of any impurities, which is in accordance with the theory of self-assembly processes. The compound [Ca(phen)2(H2O)2(NO3)]NO3 was synthesized in all the reactions where Ca2+ was involved. In contrast, none of the reactions led to the preparation of a strontium complex. Two of the reactions, in which participated Be2+, resulted in the compound (phen)3(H+)2(NO−3)2. The second group of competitive reactions was carried out with 1,10-phenanthroline and a given alkaline earth metal cation in the presence of the anions NO3− and BF4−. These led to the compounds Mg(phen)4(BF4)2(H2O)3, [Ca(phen)2(H2O)2(NO3)]BF4, Sr(phen)4(OH)(BF4)(H2O) and Ba(phen)3.5(BF4)2(H2O). All the newly synthesized substances were characterized by elemental analysis, IR- and FAB-mass-spectra.