New complexes of Ni(II) and Cu(II) with tridentate ONO Schiff base ligand: synthesis,crystal structures,electrochemical and theoretical investigation

In this research, we prepared a new series of the Cu(II) (1) and Ni(II) (2) metal complexes of a tridentate Schiff base ligand, (E)-2-(5-bromo-2-hydroxybenzylideneamino) phenol (H₂L). These complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR, UV–Vis, and ¹H-NMR spectroscopy. The crystal structures of (1) and (2) were determined by X-ray diffraction studies. The single crystal X-ray diffraction analyses revealed that copper(II) cation is five-coordinated and the coordination polyhedron is a slightly distorted square pyramid. Nickel(II), on the other hand, is four-coordinated, and has a regular, square planar geometry. Further discussed were the electrochemical reduction of these complexes. We also analyzed the nature of the metal–ligand bond in the complexes through NBO and EDA analysis. Besides, vibrational sample magnetometer (VSM) revealed complex (1) was ferromagnetic.