Synthesis, spectroscopy, crystal structure and DFT studies of cobalt(III) complexes featuring dimethylglyoximate and aniline or p-bromoaniline ligands

Two new cobalt(III) compounds [Co(Hdmg)2(Ani)2]NO3·2H2O (I) and [Co(Hdmg)2(Ani-Br)2]NO3·H2O (II), where Hdmg is the dimethylglyoximate monoanion, Ani is aniline and Ani-Br is p-bromoaniline, were synthesized and characterized using spectroscopic techniques including IR, UV-Visible, and X-ray diffraction. In the octahedral Co(III) complexes, the two dimethylglyoximato ions are coordinated to a cobalt atom in a planar configuration and are connected by intramolecular OH⋯O hydrogen-bonding. The nitrogen atoms of the two aniline ligands occupy the apical sites. A Density Functional Theory approach has been successfully used for the investigation of the nature of solid state interactions and determination of the whole molecular packing. It was found that the computational data are in good agreement with the experimental results.