Synthesis, structures, and magnetic behavior of a series of copper(II) azide polymers of Cu4 building clusters and isolation of a new hemiaminal ether as the metal complex

Four new neutral copper azido polymers, [Cu(4)(N(3))(8)(L(1))(2)](n) (1), [Cu(4)(N(3))(8)(L(2))(2)](n) (2), [Cu(4)(N(3))(8)(L(3))(2)](n) (3), and [Cu(9)(N(3))(18)(L(4))(4)](n) (4) [L(1-4) are formed in situ by reacting pyridine-2-carboxaldehyde with 2-[2-(methylamino)ethyl]pyridine (mapy, L(1)), N,N-dimethylethylenediamine (N,N-dmen, L(2)), N,N-diethylethylenediamine (N,N-deen, L(3)), and N,N,2,2-tetramethylpropanediamine (N,N,2,2-tmpn, L(4))], have been synthesized by using 0.5 mol equiv of the chelating tridentate ligands with Cu(NO(3))(2)·3H(2)O and an excess of NaN(3). Single-crystal X-ray structures show that the basic unit of these complexes, especially 1-3, contains very similar Cu(II)(4) building blocks. The overall structure of 3 is two-dimensional, while the other three complexes are one-dimensional in nature. Complex 1 represents a unique example containing hemiaminal ether arrested by copper(II). Complexes 1 and 2 have a rare bridging azido pathway: both end-on and end-to-end bridging azides between a pair of Cu(II) centers. Cryomagnetic susceptibility measurements over a wide range of temperature exhibit dominant ferromagnetic behavior in all four complexes. Density functional theory calculations (B3LYP functional) have been performed on complexes 1-3 to provide a qualitative theoretical interpretation of their overall ferromagnetic behavior.