Reactivity of homoleptic and heteroleptic core paddle wheel Cu(II) compounds

© 2018 Elsevier B.V. The compound [Cu(µ-Pip)(µ-OAc)(MeOH)]2 (1) (Pip = Piperonylate, OAc = acetate, MeOH = methanol) has been obtained in high percentage yield. Its reactivity with pyridine/pyrazole derivative ligands (pyridine (py), 3-phenylpyridine (3-Phpy) and 4-acetylpyridine (4-Acpy)) and 3,5-dimethylpyrazole (3,5-dmpz) leads to four monomeric compounds: [Cu(Pip)2(dPy)2(H2O)] (dPy = py (2), 3-Phpy (3) and 4-Acpy (4a)) and [Cu(Pip)2(3,5-dmpz)2] (5). Furthermore, the reaction of 1 with HPip in MeOH:DMF solvent under reflux conditions yields the homoleptic core paddle-wheel compound [Cu(µ-Pip)2(DMF)]2·2DMF (6). The reaction between 6 and 2-benzylpyridine (2-Bzpy) yields the paddle-wheel core compound [Cu(Pip)2(2-Bzpy)]2 (7). All compounds have been fully characterized by analytical and spectroscopic techniques and their X-ray crystal structures have been determined. In this set of compounds, the carboxylate ligand (Pip) displays different coordination modes (monodentate (2–4), bidentate chelate (5) and bridged (1, 6 and 7)). Moreover, their extended structures are discussed: the crystal packing indicates hydrogen bond propagation, which defines 1D (2–5) or 2D (6 and 7) supramolecular networks.