Application of N-(ω-bromoalkyl)tetrazoles for the preparation of bitopic ligands containing pyridylazole chelators or azole rings as building blocks for iron(II) spin crossover polymeric materials

1-(3-Bromopropyl)tetrazole, 2-(3-bromopropyl)tetrazole, 1-(4-bromobutyl)tetrazole, and 2-(4-bromobutyl)tetrazole were synthesized with the aim to prepare flexible bitopic ligands contaning 1- or 2-substituted tetrazole ring linked through 1,3-propylene or 1,4-butylene spacer with pyridylazole or azole unit. Twenty-six novel ligands i.e., α-(pyridylazolyl)-ω-(tetrazolyl)alkanes, α-(tetrazolyl)-ω-(1,2,3-triazolyl)alkanes, and α-(tetrazol-1-yl)-ω-(tetrazol-2-yl)alkanes were prepared by an alkylation of sodium salts of 5-(2-pyridyl)tetrazole, 3-(2-pyridyl)-1,2,4-triazole, 3-(2-pyridyl)pyrazole, 1,2,3-triazole, and 1,2,3,4-tetrazole with N-(ω-bromoalkyl)tetrazoles. An alkylation of 5-(2-pyridyl)tetrazole, 1,2,3,4-tetrazole, and 1,2,3-triazole afforded both N1- and N2-regioisomer whereas in the case of 3-(2-pyridyl)-1,2,4-triazole and 3-(2-pyridyl)pyrazole only N1 isomers were isolated. The positions of alkylation were confirmed by X-ray diffraction studies of 1-(5-(2-pyridyl)tetrazol-2-yl)-4-(tetrazol-1-yl)butane, 1-(3-(2-pyridyl)-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)-4-(tetrazol-2-yl)butane, 1-(3-(2-pyridyl)pyrazol-1-yl)-4-(tetrazol-1-yl)butane, and 1-(tetrazol-1-yl)-4-(1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)butane. Preliminary investigations of magnetic properties of iron(II) complex with 1-(3-(2-pyridyl)-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)-4-(tetrazol-1-yl)butane revealed that obtained product exhibit thermally induced spin transition accompanied by the thermochromic effect.