Anion effects on construction of cadmium(II) compounds with a chelating ligand bis(2-pyridylmethyl)amine: Their photoluminescence and catalytic activities

Four new structures of CdII complexes containing bis(2-pyridylmethyl)amine (bispicam) ligands have been determined. Chloride anions bridge two CdII ions to form a dinuclear complex [(Cd(bispicam)Cl)2(μ2-Cl2)] (1), and bromide and iodide ions produce two halide-coordinated [Cd(bispicam)X2] complexes (X = Cl for 2 and Br for 3). Nitrate anions produce both nitrate-coordinated [Cd(bispicam)2(NO3)]+ and simple [mer-Cd(bispicam)2]2+ with three nitrate counter-anions (4). These results indicate that anion effects play very important roles for construction of crystal structures and geometrical isomerism. Moreover, the homogeneous catalyst [Cd(bispicam)2](ClO4)2 (5) catalyzed efficiently the transesterification of a variety of esters with methanol, while rest of the complexes have displayed very slow conversions. Furthermore, 1–5 showed the intense emissions at room temperature, which could be used as a good candidate for a potential hybrid inorganic–organic photoactive material.