Influence of the coordination geometry on the physicochemical properties of a copper(II) complex with a tailor-made calixarene-based ligand bearing dipyridyl pendants. An ESR, UV-Vis and CV study

Dipyridyl pendants, suitably attached onto a calix[4]arene fixed in its 1,3-alternate conformation, form stable complexes with copper(ii) in acetonitrile. Both the mononuclear and the homobinuclear species ([Cu(1)](2+) and [Cu(2)(1)](4+)), previously detected through a UV-Vis investigation, have been studied by ESR, UV-Vis and cyclic voltammetry. ESR and UV-Vis data clearly indicate that in the [Cu(1)](2+) species the nitrogen atoms of dipyridyl pendants are tetrahedrally arranged around copper(II). Computer models, optimised through molecular mechanics methods, further support these spectroscopic findings. The tetrahedral arrangement, achieved thanks to the anchoring of the dipyridyl moieties onto the calixarene platform, accounts for the easy reversible reduction of this species. The aspects associated with the reduction-oxidation of the homobinuclear species are also discussed.