A New Method for the Synthesis of Heterospin Complexes

Abstract

The interaction of binuclear Co(II) pivalate [Сo2(H2O)Piv4(HPiv)4] with nitronyl nitroxide HL1 (2-(2-hydroxy-5-nitrophenyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazole-3-oxide-1-oxyl) in organic solvents led to the formation of a pentanuclear heterospin complex [Co5(Piv)4L14L22]. A nontrivial peculiarity of the complex is the presence of both the starting nitronyl nitroxide L1 and its deoxygenated derivative imino nitroxide L2 (HL2: 2-(2-hydroxy-5-nitrophenyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazole-1-oxyl) in its coordination sphere. Based on this, a new synthetic approach was developed, which suggests the use of both the starting radical and the product of its reduction in the reaction with the metal. The suggested approach is a new method for the synthesis of heterospin compounds, including those that cannot be obtained by other methods. It was shown that the reaction of Co(II) pivalate with a mixture of HL1 and HL2 can give a trinuclear heterospin complex [Co3(Piv)2L12L22]. The replacement of Co(II) by Ni(II) completely suppresses the reduction of HL1 into HL2, and Ni(II) pivalate does not react with HL1. The use of a known mixture of HL1 and HL2 in the reaction with [Ni2(H2O)Piv4(HPiv)4], however, led to the formation of a heterospin complex [Ni3L1L22(Piv)3(HPiv)3] also containing both nitronyl nitroxide and imino nitroxide.