Synthesis,characterization, and electrochemical study of two new macroacyclic Schiff bases and their copper(II) and zinc(II) complexes

Two new potentially octadentate N₂O₆ Schiff-base ligands 2-((E)-(2-(2-(2-((E)-2-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzylideneamino)phenoxy)phenoxy)phenylimino)methyl)-6-methoxyphenol H₂L¹ and 2-((E)-(2-(2-(2-((E)-2-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzylideneamino)phenoxy)-4-tert-butylphenoxy)phenylimino)methyl)-6-methoxyphenol H₂L² were prepared from the reaction of O-Vaniline with 1,2-bis(2′-aminophenoxy)benzene or 1,2-bis(2′-aminophenoxy)-4-t-butylbenzene, respectively. Reactions of H₂L¹ and H₂L² with copper(II) and zinc(II) salts in methanol in the presence of N(Et)₃ gave neutral CuL¹]?·?0.5CH₂Cl₂, CuL²], ZnL¹]?·?0.5CH₂Cl₂, and ZnL²] complexes. The complexes were characterized by IR spectra, elemental analysis, magnetic susceptibility, ESI–MS spectra, molar conductance (Λ_m), UV-Vis spectra and, in the case of ZnL¹]?·?0.5CH₂Cl₂ and ZnL²], with ¹H- and ¹³C-NMR. The crystal structure of ZnL¹]?·?0.5CH₂Cl₂ has also been determined showing the metal ion in a highly distorted trigonal bipyramidal geometry. The electrochemical behavior of H₂L² and its Cu(II) complex, CuL²], was studied and the formation constant of CuL²] was evaluated using cyclic voltammetry. The logarithm value of formation constant of CuL²] is 21.9.