Determination of the solution structures of melamine-based bis- and tris-macrocyclic ligand copper(II) complexes

A combination of molecular mechanics (MM), electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (EPR), and spectra simulation (MM-EPR) has been used to determine the solution structures of di- and trinuclear copper(II) complexes of melamine-based oligomacrocyclic ligands. The spin Hamiltonian parameters of the mononuclear, melamine-appended macrocyclic ligand copper(II) complex have been determined by EPR spectroscopy and were also studied with DFT methods. These spin Hamiltonian parameters, together with the structural parameters obtained from models optimized with MM, have been used for the simulation of the EPR spectra of the di- and trinuclear complexes. For the dinuclear complex, the syn isomer is preferred over the anti, for which an X-ray structure exists; for the trinuclear complex, the syn,syn isomer is preferred over the syn,anti form. Additional support for these assignments comes from DFT calculations, and this demonstrates that the MM-DFT-EPR method is a reliable approach for the determination of solution structures and for the analysis of spin Hamiltonian parameters of dipolar, coupled transition metal complexes (g and A tensors and J values).