Divalent nickel,cobalt and copper complexes of a tetradentate N6 macrocyclic ligand

Summary Divalent nickel, cobalt and copper salts react with 2,6-diaminopyridine and acetylacetone to form complexes containing a 16-membered N₆ tetradentate macrocyclic ligand. The complexes are characterised as distorted octahedra of the M(TML)X₂ type where M=nickel(II), cobalt(II) and copper(II); TML=tetradentate macrocyclic ligand and X=Cl, Br, NO₃ or NCS. The ligand coordinates through all the four azomethine nitrogen atoms which are bridged by acetylacetone moieties. Pyridine nitrogen does not participate in coordination, a fact supported by far i.r. studies. The magnetic, electronic and i.r. spectral studies indicate that the complexes have lower symmetries and the amounts of distortion calculated in terms of DT/DQ applying normalised spherical harmonic Hamiltonian theory indicate that these complexes are moderately distored.