Octa- and hendecanuclear zinc(II) complexes of an acyclic diimine ligand derived from 1,4-diformyl-2,3-dihydroxybenzene

Zinc acetate complexation of the in situ generated hexadentate diimine ligand H4L1 (obtained from the condensation of 1,4-diformyl-2,3-dihydroxybenzene with two equivalents of 2-aminoethanol) in methanol gave, after vapour diffusion of diethyl ether into the reaction solution, crystals of two complexes, [ZnII8(H2L1)4(OAc)8] and [ZnII11(H2L1)6(OAc)6(O)2], in a 3:1 ratio.