Synthesis,structure, and solvent-extraction properties of tridentate oxime ligands and their cobalt(II), nickel(II), copper(II), zinc(II) complexes

Synthesis of four different types of ligands Ar[COC(NOH)R] _n (Ar = biphenyl, n = 1, HL¹; Ar = biphenyl, n = 2, H₂L²; Ar = diphenylmethane, n = 1, HL³; Ar = diphenylmethane, n = 2, H₂L⁴; R = furfurylamine in all ligands) and their dinuclear Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺, and Zn²⁺ complexes is reported herein. These compounds were characterized by elemental analysis, ICP-OES, FT-IR spectra, and magnetic susceptibility measurements. The ligands were further characterized by ¹H NMR. The results suggest that dinuclear complexes of HL¹ and HL³ have a metal to ligand mole ratio of 2: 2 and dinuclear complexes H₂L² and H₂L⁴ have a metal to ligand mole ratio of 2: 1. Square pyramidal or octahedral structures are proposed for complexes of oxime ligands. Furthermore, extraction abilities of the four ligands were also evaluated in chloroform using selected transition metal picrates such as Mn²⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺, Cd²⁺, Hg²⁺, Pb²⁺. The ligands show strong binding ability towards Hg²⁺ and Cu²⁺ ions.