Preeyanuch Sangtrirutnugul

            The use of inorganic polyatomic anions such as SiF62– and ClO4 to construct self-assembled high-nuclearity metal complexes is challenging due to their wide range of coordination geometries, sensitivity to pH, and high solvation energies. In this work, the synthesis of hexanuclear Cu(II) complex [Cu6(pytm)6(SiF6)](SiF6)2 (1) [Hpytm = (1-benzyl-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)(pyridine-2-yl)phenylmethanol] and one-dimensional Cu(II) polymer {[Cu3(pytm)3(MeOH)(ClO4)](ClO4)2}n (2) was demonstrated through a simple reaction between Cu(I) or Cu(II) salts and Hpytm. Crystal structures show that both complexes contain the trinuclear six-membered Cu(II) cluster [Cu3II(m-k3-N,O,N’-pytm)3]3+, as a building block. In 1, the two trinuclear clusters sandwich an SiF62– anion to form a discrete dimeric hexanuclear structure whereas in 2 the CuII clusters are linked by ClO4 ions in a one-dimensional polymeric structure. Magnetic data of 1 and 2 were also determined.

This research project was funded by Thailand Research Fund (grant number: RSA6080082) and carried out at Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University. X-ray crystallographic analysis and magnetic studies were performed at Osaka University in collaboration with Assoc. Prof. Nobuto Yoshinari and Prof. Takumi Konno. Knowledge of bonding interactions between polyatomic anions and multinuclear metal centers can lead to the development of materials with aesthetic structures and useful applications including anion sensors as well as single-molecule magnets.

Reference: “Anion-templated assembly of multinuclear copper(II)-triazole complexes” Gopalakrishnan, M.; Krittametaporn, N.; Yoshinari, N.; Konno, T.; Sangtrirutnugul, P.* New J. Chem. 2020, 44, 13764–13770.