Complexes of substituted benzothiazoles 4. Nickel(II) complexes of the bidentate benzothiazoles 1,2-bis(2-benzothiazolyl)benzene and 1,2-bis(2-benzothiazolyl)ethane

Abstract

The nickel coordination chemistry of two potentially bidentate bis-benzothiazole ligands is compared. 1,2-Bis(2-benzothiazolyl)-benzene (OBT), which has an o-phenylene bridge, forms square planar derivatives with NiX 2 (X = I, ClO 4 , BF 4 ), octahedral derivatives with NiX 2 (X = NCS, NO 3 ), and five-coordinate derivatives with NiX 2 (X = CI, Br). 1,2-Bis(2-benzothiazolyl)ethane (BBTE), which has an ethylene bridge, forms tetrahedral derivatives with NiX 2 (X = CI, Br, I) and an octahedral complex with Ni(NO 3 ) 2 . Although both ligands are capable of tetrahedral coordination about a cobalt centre, the apparent preference of tetrahedral coordination with nickel complexes of BBTE seems unusual. The only difference between the two ligands lies in the bridging group between the benzothiazole rings. Structural assignments are supported by ligand field and infrared spectra, magnetic data, and an X-ray structure of the complex [Ni(BBTE)Br 2 ], which has been shown to have a distorted tetrahedral stereochemistry.