Structural diversity of copper(II) amino alcoholate complexes

Amino alcohols which carry both amino and hydroxyl groups in the same molecule are good chelating and bridging ligands. They have been broadly used for the preparation of copper(II) amino alcoholate complexes through the self-assembly process, which generally leads to the formation of diverse structures from mononuclear to polynuclear copper(II) clusters. There are three main factors to control the nuclearity of these clusters: (i) the molar ratio of Cu(II) to amino alcohol, (ii) the choice of the counter anions and (iii) the nature of the amino alcohol. These structures can be used as model systems in magnetic studies, allowing a better understanding about the magnetic interactions between the metal centres, as well as simplified models of the active sites of many copper enzymes, which catalyse the hydroxylation of alkanes and other substrates. This review comprises the literature survey of copper(II) amino alcoholate complexes, presenting the structural diversity from mono- to nonanuclear clusters, from discrete molecules to coordination polymers or networks obtained using small bridging and chelating amino alcoholates with copper(II) ions. Several applications of these complexes have been presented.