Effect of pH on the charge‐assisted hydrogen‐bonded assembly of the anionic [Cu(oxalate)2]2− building unit and N,N′‐ditopic cations

By the solvothermal reaction under acidic conditions of Cu(NO₃)₂·3H₂O, Na₂C₂O₄ and the N,N′‐ditopic organic coligands 1‐(pyridin‐4‐yl)piperazine (ppz) and 1,2‐bis(pyridin‐4‐yl)ethane (bpa), two novel anionic copper(II) coordination compounds were obtained, namely the one‐dimensional coordination polymer catena‐poly4‐(pyridin‐1‐ium‐4‐yl)piperazin‐1‐ium (oxalato‐κ²O¹,O²)copper(II)]‐μ‐oxalato‐κ³O¹,O²:O^1′]], {(C₉H₁₅N₃)Cu(C₂O₄)₂)]}_n or {(H₂ppz)Cu(C₂O₄)₂]}_n, (I), and the discrete ionic complex 4,4′‐(ethane‐1,2‐diyl)dipyridinium bis(oxalato‐κ²O¹,O²)copper(II), (C₁₂H₁₄N₂)Cu(C₂O₄)₂] or (H₂bpa)Cu(C₂O₄)₂], (II). The products were characterized by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction, elemental analysis, powder X‐ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analyses and UV and IR spectroscopic techniques. The Cu(C₂O₄)₂]²⁻ units for (I) and (II) are stabilized by H₂ppz²⁺ and H₂bpa²⁺ cations, respectively, via charge‐assisted hydrogen bonds. Also, a study of the pH‐controlled synthesis of this system shows that (I) was obtained at pH values of 2–4. When using bpa, a two‐dimensional square‐grid network of Cu(C₂O₄)(bpa)]_n was obtained at a pH of 4. This indicates that the pH of the reaction also plays a key role in the structural assembly and coordination abilities of oxalate and N,N′‐ditopic coligands.