Complexation of the N,N′,O-donor ligand N-trans-(2′-hydroxycyclohexyl)-2-aminomethylpyridine

Abstract

The potentially tridentate N,N′,O-donor N-trans-(2′-hydroxycyclohexyl)-2-aminomethylpyridine (1) forms ML2 complexes with M(II) = Cu, Ni, and Zn. X-ray crystal structures of the isostructural Ni(II) and Zn(II) complexes confirm bis-tridentate coordination in significantly distorted octahedral geometries as the all-cis facial isomer. Structural comparisons with the previously reported all-trans facial Cu(II) and cis,cis,trans(Npy) facial Co(III) complexes are presented. Protonation constants for 1 and stability constants with Cu(II), Ni(II), and Zn(II) are reported, with both ML and ML2 species defined. The trend for ML (log K 1 values for Cu, Ni, and Zn of 8.3, 6.9, and 5.3, respectively) is conventional. Protonation and stability constants with Cu(II) for N,N-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)amine (2) were also defined. The log K 1 value measured for 2 of 7.4 is very similar to that found for 1 of 8.3, despite the marked difference in the third donor group; it appears that the third donor of the tridentate ligand generally binds only poorly to Jahn–Teller elongated Cu(II) in solution.