Complexing Properties of Phenolic Diazacrown Ethers with Transition and Heavy Metal Ions

The complexation equilibria of the phenolic diazacrown ether derivatives L1–L11 with transition and heavy metal ions (Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺, Cd²⁺, Hg²⁺ and Pb²⁺) have been studied in methanol using UV absorption spectrophotometry. A majority of the systems studied formed only ML complexes. Using a ligand with a different position of the substituents on the phenolic side arms (denoted L7) leads to ML₂ formation with most of the metal ions. Every ligand forms very strong ML and ML₂ complexes with Pb²⁺, and, in nearly all cases, only a lower limit could be derived for the stability constant. The stability of the complexes generally increases as the length of the para-substituents on the phenol groups increases. Among the metal ions tested, Zn²⁺ and Hg²⁺ are the least preferred by alkyl and alkoxy derivatives, respectively.