Oxidative condensation reactions of (diethylenetriamine)cobalt(III) complexes with substituted bis(pyridin-2-yl)methane ligands

The synthesis and characterisation of Co(III) complexes derived from a condensation reaction with a central or terminal nitrogen of a dien ligand and the α-carbon of a range of substituted bis(pyridin-2-yl)methane ligands are described. Aerial oxidation of bpm {bis(pyridin-2-yl)methane with Co(II)/dien or direct reaction with Co(dien)Cl3 provided in low yield a single C-N condensation product 1 (at the primary terminal NH2) after the pyridyl -CH2- is formally oxidised to -CH+-. The methyl substituted ligand bpe {1,1-bis(pyridin-2-yl)ethane} behaves likewise, except both terminal (prim) and central (sec) amines condense to yield isomeric products 2 and 3. Two of these three materials have been characterised by single crystal X-ray crystallography. The corresponding reactions for the bis(pyridyl) ligand bpk {bis(pyridin-2-yl)ketone} provided C-N condensation products without the requirement for oxidation at the α-C center; two carbinolamine complexes in different geometrical configurations resulted, mer-anti-[Co(dienbpc)Cl]ZnCl4, 5, and unsym-fac-[Co(dienbpc)Cl]ZnCl4, 6, {dienbpc=[2-(2-aminoethylamino)-ethylamino]-di-pyridin-2-yl-methanol}. In addition, a novel complex, [Co(bpk)(bpd-OH)Cl]ZnCl4, 4, in which one bidentate N, N-bonded bpk ligand and one tridentate N, O, N-bonded bpd (the diol from bpk+OH−) were coordinated, was obtained via the Co(II)/O2 synthetic route. When the bpc ligand (bpc=bis(pyridin-2-yl)methanol) was employed directly as a reagent along with dien, no condensation reactions were observed, but rather a single isomeric complex [Co(dien)(bpc)]Cl.ZnCl4, 7, in which the ligand bpc acted as a N,N,O-bonded tridentate ligand rather than as a N,N-bidentate ligand was isolated. 13C, 1D and 2D 1H NMR studies are reported for all the complexes; they establish the structures unambiguously.