Cu(II) complexes with square pyramidal (N2S)CuCl2 chromophore: Jahn–Teller distortion and subsequent effect on spectral and structural properties

One monomeric neutral Cu(II) complex [(pmtpm)CuCl2] (1) is reported by Lindoy and Livingstone [8]. Two new complexes namely, μ-Cl bridged binuclear Cu(II) complex [{(pmtpm)Cu(Cl)}2 μ-Cl](ClO4) (2) and a bis μ-Cl bridged binuclear Cu(II) complex [{(pmtpm)Cu}2(μ-Cl)2](ClO4)2 (3) derived from a tridentate Schiff base ligand, 2-pyridyl-N-(2′-methylthiophenyl)methyleneimine (pmtpm) were synthesized and characterized by various spectroscopic methods and by X-ray crystallography. (N2S)CuCl2 chromophore(s) of distorted square pyramidal coordination geometries around Cu(II) ion(s) have been observed for all the complexes 1–3. The equatorial sites of the square plane comprise two N and a thioether S donor atoms of the pmtpm ligand as well as one Cl− ion (terminal in 1 and 2, and bridging in 3) while the remaining axial site is occupied by a terminal Cl− ion (for 1) or a bridging Cl− ion (for 2 and 3). The equatorial Cu–Cl distances are much shorter [1: 2.2511(4) Å, 2: 2.2307(12) Å, 3: 2.2513(12) Å] than the axial Cu–Cl distances [1: 2.4394(4) Å, 2: 2.5597(9) Å, 3: 2.7037(12) Å]. The correlation of an axial Cu–Cl bond elongation with a lower g|| value in the solid state EPR spectrum and a blue shifted ligand field transition in the solid and solution phase absorption spectrum has been observed.