Crystal structures and spectroscopic behavior of monomeric, dimeric and polymeric copper(II) chloroacetate adducts with isonicotinamide, N-methylnicotinamide and N,N-diethylnicotinamide

Substituted pyridines provide structural rigidity and thus permit the metal coordination geometry to guide the direction of propagation of the hydrogen-bonded links between building blocks. In this paper we present the crystal structures and spectroscopic properties of monomeric, dimeric and polymeric copper(II) chloroacetates with isonicotinamide (INA), N-methylnicotinamide (MNA) and N,N-diethylnicotinamide (DENA). The molecular structure of [Cu(ClCH2CO2)2(INA)2]2 (1) consists of a rather interesting dinuclear molecule with copper atoms bridged by anti, anti-O,O′ bridging oxygens of two chloroacetate anions. Each copper atom is octahedrally coordinated thus forming a CuN2O4 core with two nitrogens, originating from two different isonicotinamide molecules, in trans positions. This complex is one of a very few examples of this rare type of structure in which both carboxylate oxygen anions are coordinated to two copper metal ions. The crystal structure of 1 revealed an infinite 1-D linear hydrogen-bonded chain formed by discrete molecules [Cu(ClCH2CO2)2(INA)2]2 connected by strong hydrogen bonds between two amide groups. This structure is the first example, where two pairs of amide groups are involved in hydrogen bonding connecting two molecules. The X-ray structure of the complex [Cu(CCl3CO2)2(INA)2]n (3) revealed a tetragonal bipyramidal environment about the copper(II) atom. This structure represents the first example of copper(II) complex, where isonicotinamide acts as a bridging ligand. Strong intramolecular hydrogen bonds, N–H⋯O, create two eight-membered metallocycle rings which stabilizes the molecular structure. The crystal structure of 3 consists of 2-D sheets of a metal–organic framework. The coordination environment of the copper(II) atom in [Cu(CCl3CO2)2(MNA)2(H2O)2] · 2H2O (6 · 2H2O) is an elongated tetragonal bipyramid. Strong intramolecular hydrogen bond interactions involving an axial coordinated water molecule and a carboxylic oxygen atom stabilize the molecular structure. The crystal structure of [Cu2(ClCH2CO2)4(DENA)]n (7) shows that the complex is an extended zigzag coordination chain of alternating binuclear paddle-wheel units of the bridging tetracarboxylate type Cu2(ClCH2CO2)4 and N,N-diethylnicotinamide molecules. This complex represents the first example of copper(II) carboxylates where N,N-diethylnicotinamide molecule acts as a bidentate bridging ligand connecting binuclear paddle-wheel units. The variation in DENA coordination in the polymeric chain can be described by the following formula: –[Cu2(ClCH2CO2)4]–(DENA-N,O)– [Cu2(ClCH2CO2)4]–(DENA-O,N)–. All complexes were characterized by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy and IR spectroscopy. The present study shows that the pyridine-carboxyamides are very suitable molecules that can be employed as ligands in the construction of extended arrays of transition metal-containing molecules linked via hydrogen bonds.