Hydroxido-Supported and Carboxylato Bridge-Driven Aggregation for Discrete [Ni4] and Interconnected [Ni2]n Complexes.

Four different carboxylato bridges have been efficiently utilized for growth of three tetranuclear nickel(II) complexes [Ni4(μ3-H2L)2(μ3-OH)2(μ1,3-CH3CO2)2](ClO4)2 (1), [Ni4(μ3-H2L)2(μ3-OH)2(μ1,3-C2H5CO2)2](ClO4)2·1/2H2O (2), and [Ni4(μ3-H2L)2(μ3-OH)2(μ1,3-O2C-C6H4-pNO2)2](ClO4)(p-NO2-C6H4-CO2)·DMF·5H2O (3) and one dinuclear nickel(II)-based chain complex {[Ni2(μ-H2L)(μ1,3-O2CCH2Ph)2(H2O)](ClO4)·1/2(CH3OH)}n (4). These were obtained via the reaction of Ni(ClO4)2·6H2O with H3L [2,6-bis((2-(2-hydroxyethylamino)ethylimino)methyl)-4-methylphenol] and RCO2Na (R = CH3,C2H5, p-NO2C6H4, and PhCH2). This family of complexes is developed from {Ni2(μ-H2L)}3+ fragments following self-aggregation. The complexes were characterized by X-ray crystallography and magnetic measurements. The changes from acetate, propionate, and p-nitrobenzoate to phenylacetate groups resulted in two different types of coordination aggregation. These compounds are new examples of [Ni4] and [Ni2]n complexes where organization of the building motifs are guided by the type of the carboxylate groups responsible for in-situ generation and utilization of HO- bridges with alteration in the aggregation process within the same ligand environment. Studies on the magnetic behavior of the compounds reveal that the exchange coupling within 1-4 is predominantly antiferromagnetic in nature.