Synthesis, crystal structures and magnetic studies of terephthalato- and fumarato-bridged dinickel(II) complexes with tripodal poly-benzimidazole ligand

Two novel dinuclear nickel(II) complexes [Ni2(ntb)2(μ-tp)(H2O)1.61(CH3OH)0.39](NO3)2·5.13CH3OH·2.25H2O (1) and [Ni2(ntb)2(μ-fum)(H2O)(CH3OH)](NO3)2·6CH3OH·H2O (2) (tp = terephthalate dianion, fum = fumarate dianion, ntb = tris(2-benzimidazolylmethyl)amine) containing tetradentate poly-benzimidazole ligand were synthesized and structurally characterized by IR spectra, UV–Vis, elemental analysis and X-ray crystallography. The Ni(II) ions in 1 and 2 have distorted octahedral geometry with four nitrogen atoms of ntb, one oxygen atom of water and one oxygen atom supplied by the carboxylate group of the bridged dicarboxylato ligand. Complexes 1 and 2 consist of terephthalato- and fumarato-bridged dinickel(II) centers in bis(monodentate) bonding fashion. The Ni ⋯ Ni distances are 11.333 Å for 1 and 8.966 Å for 2. The magnetic susceptibility measurements at variable temperature show that two complexes exhibit weak antiferromagnetic interactions between nickel(II) ions with J values of −0.25 cm−1 and −0.36 cm−1, respectively.