Copper(II) complexes of 2-carbamoylethyl derivatives of linear diamines. Crystallographic evidence for amido oxygen binding prior to deprotonation of amide nitrogens

There has been considerable interest in the coordination chemistry of linear and macrocyclic amides⁽¹⁾. Deprotonation of the amide nitrogen is known to occur with various metal ions and the sites of coordination are generally considered to be the carbonyl oxygen prior to deprotonation and the amide nitrogen after deprotonation. However, oxygen binding has generally been inferred from indirect evidence^(2,3). We now report the results of some studies on the interaction of copper(II) with a series of 2-carbamoylethyl derivatives of linear diamines, namelyN,N′-bis(2-carbamoylethyl)ethylenediamine (1),N,N,N′,N′-tetrakis(2-carbamoylethyl)ethylenediamine (2)N,N′-bis(2-carbamoylethyl)trimethylenediamine (3) andN,N,N′,N′-tetrakis(2-carbamoylethyl)trimethylenediamine (4) which confirm carbonyl oxygen binding prior to amide deprotonation.