Two nickel(II) bis[(pyridin‐2‐yl)methyl]amine complexes with homophthalic and benzene‐1,2,4,5‐tetracarboxylic acids

Two new Ni^II complexes involving the ancillary ligand bis[(pyridin‐2‐yl)methyl]amine (bpma) and two different carboxylate ligands, i.e. homophthalate [hph; systematic name: 2‐(2‐carboxylatophenyl)acetate] and benzene‐1,2,4,5‐tetracarboxylate (btc), namely catena‐poly[[aqua{bis[(pyridin‐2‐yl)methyl]amine‐κ³N,N′,N′′}nickel(II)]‐μ‐2‐(2‐carboxylatophenyl)aceteto‐κ²O:O′], [Ni(C₉H₆O₄)(C₁₂H₁₃N₃)(H₂O)]_n, and (μ‐benzene‐1,2,4,5‐tetracarboxylato‐κ⁴O¹,O²:O⁴,O⁵)bis(aqua{bis[(pyridin‐2‐yl)methyl]amine‐κ³N,N′,N′′}nickel(II)) bis(triaqua{bis[(pyridin‐2‐yl)methyl]amine‐κ³N,N′,N′′}nickel(II)) benzene‐1,2,4,5‐tetracarboxylate hexahydrate, [Ni₂(C₁₀H₂O₈)(C₁₂H₁₃N₃)₂(H₂O)₂]·[Ni(C₁₂H₁₃N₃)(H₂O)₃]₂(C₁₀H₂O₈)·6H₂O, (II), are presented. Compound (I) is a one‐dimensional polymer with hph acting as a bridging ligand and with the chains linked by weak C—H...O interactions. The structure of compound (II) is much more complex, with two independent Ni^II centres having different environments, one of them as part of centrosymmetric [Ni(bpma)(H₂O)]₂(btc) dinuclear complexes and the other in mononuclear [Ni(bpma)(H₂O)₃]²⁺ cations which (in a 2:1 ratio) provide charge balance for btc⁴⁻ anions. A profuse hydrogen‐bonding scheme, where both coordinated and crystal water molecules play a crucial role, provides the supramolecular linkage of the different groups.