A matched set of dinuclear cobalt complexes with II-II, II-III, and III-III oxidation states have been prepared and structurally characterized. In [(bpbp)Co2(O2P(OPh)2)2]n+ ( n = 1, 2, or 3; bpbp(-) = 2,6-bis(( N,N'-bis-(2-picolyl)amino)-methyl)-4-tertbutylphenolato), the nonbonded Co...Co separations are within the range 3.5906(17) to 3.7081(11) angstroms, and the metal ions are triply bridged by the phenolate oxygen atom of the heptadentate dinucleating ligand and by two diphenylphosphate groups. The overall structures and geometries of the complexes are very similar, with minor variations in metal-ligand bond distances consistent with oxidation state assignments. The CoIICoIII compound is a valence-trapped Robin-Day class II complex. Solid state 31P NMR spectra of the diamagnetic CoIIICoIII (3) and paramagnetic CoIICoIII (2) and CoIICoII (1) complexes show that 31P isotropic shifts broaden and move downfield by about 3000 ppm for each increment in oxidation state. Cyclic voltammetry corroborates the existence of the CoIICoII, CoIICoIII, and CoIIICoIII species in solution. The redox changes are not reversible in the applied scanning timescales, indicating that chemical changes are associated with oxidation and reduction of the cobalt centers. An investigation of the spectroscopic properties of this series has been carried out for its potential usefulness in analyses of the related spectroscopic properties of the dicobalt metallohydrolases. Principally, magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) has been used to determine the strength of the magnetic exchange coupling in the CoIICoII complex by analysis of the variable-temperature variable-field (VTVH) intensity behavior of the MCD signal. The series is ideal for the spectroscopic determination of magnetic coupling since it can occur only in the CoIICoII complex. The CoIICoIII complex contains a nearly isostructural CoII ion, but since CoIII is diamagnetic, the magnetic coupling is switched off, while the spectral features of the CoII ion remain. Analysis of the MCD data from the CoIICoIII complex has been undertaken in the theoretical context of a 4T1g ground-state of the CoII ion, initially in an octahedral ligand field that is split by both geometric distortion and zero-field splitting to form an isolated doublet ground state. The MCD data for the CoIICoII pair in the [(bpbp)Co2(O2P(OPh)2)2]+ complex were fitted to a model based on weak antiferromagnetic coupling with J = -1.6 cm (-1). The interpretation is confirmed by solid state magnetic susceptibility measurements.

The new acyclic and potentially heptadentate dinucleating ligand, 2,6-bis(N,N-bis-(2-pyridylmethyl)-sulfonamido)-4-methylphenolato (bpsmp(-)) contains two tertiary sulfonamide groups. The sulfonamide donors permit a greater degree of control over the accessibility of mono versus dinuclear complexes compared to their closely related amine-containing counterparts, on account of their relatively weaker donor properties. A series of air-stable dinuclear complexes of Co(II), Mn(II) and Cu(II) containing two auxiliary acetate ligands have been prepared. The absence of acetate in reaction mixtures containing Co(II) and Mn(II) led to mononuclear complexes, with water ligands completing the coordination spheres of the metal ions, even in the presence of large excess of the metal ions. Thus, bridging acetate ligands appear to stabilise the dinuclear structures for the relatively labile Co(II) and Mn(II) ions. A mononuclear complex of V(IV)=O was isolated even in the presence of acetate, possibly because the oxyl groups on each V(IV) prevent formation of a bis-acetato-bridged complex. Reaction of one equivalent of CuCl(2) with bpsmpH led to isolation of two different mononuclear complexes, dependent on the identity of the solvent. The phenol group is coordinated in only one of these complexes. A dinuclear Cu(II) complex was isolated when two equivalents of the metal salt were used in the reaction.

The O2 binding affinity of a series of dicobalt(II) complexes can be tuned between p(O2)50% = 2.3 × 10(-3) and 700 × 10(-3) atm at 40 °C by varying the number of H and Cl atoms in the bridging acetato ligands of [Co2(bpbp)(CH(3-n)ClnCO2)(CH3CN)2](2+), where bpbp(-) = 2,6-bis(N,N-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)aminomethyl)-4-tert-butylphenolate and n = {0, 1, 2, 3}. O2 binds most strongly to the deoxy complex containing the acetato bridge and the O2 affinity decreases linearly as the number of Cl atoms is increased from 0 to 3 in [Co2(bpbp)(O2)(CH3CO2)](2+), [Co2(bpbp)(O2)(CH2ClCO2)](2+), [Co2(bpbp)(O2)(CHCl2CO2)](2+) and [Co2(bpbp)(O2)(CCl3CO2)](2+). The O2 affinities can be qualitatively correlated with both the pKa value of the parent acetic or chloroacetic acid and the redox potential of the O2(2-)/O2˙(-) couple measured for the peroxide-bridged complexes. The redox potential varies between 510 mV (vs. Fc(0/+)) for the acetato-bridged complex to 696 mV for the trichloroacetato-bridged system. Despite the clear difference in reactivity in solution, there are no clear trends which can be correlated to O2 affinity in the O-O bond lengths in the X-ray crystal structures at 180 K (1.415(4)-1.424(2) Å) or in the frequencies of the peroxido O-O stretch in the solid-state resonance Raman spectra at 298 K (830-836 cm(-1)). Using density functional theory calculations, we conclude that the Co(II) atoms of the deoxy complexes coordinate solvent molecules as auxiliary ligands and that a conformation change of the ligand is involved in the reversible O2 binding process. The alternative of five coordination in the deoxy Co(II) complexes is therefore seen as less likely. The crystal structure and p(O2)50% are also reported for the 1-naphthoato-bridged oxy complex [Co2(bpbp)(O2)(C10H7O2)](2+), and the O2 binding affinity in that case is also qualitatively consistent with the expectation from the pKa of the parent 1-naphthoic acid.

A comparison of the electrochemical properties of a series of dinuclear complexes [M(2)(L)(RCO(2))(2)](+) with M = Mn or Co, L = 2,6-bis(N,N-bis-(2-pyridylmethyl)-sulfonamido)-4-methylphenolato (bpsmp(-)) or 2,6-bis(N,N-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)aminomethyl)-4-tert-butylphenolato (bpbp(-)) and R = H, CH(3), CF(3) or 3,4-dimethoxybenzoate demonstrates: (i) The electron-withdrawing sulfonyl groups in the backbone of bpsmp(-) stabilize the [M(2)(bpsmp)(RCO(2))(2)](+) complexes in their M(II)(2) oxidation state compared to their [M(2)(bpbp)(RCO(2))(2)](+) analogues. Manganese complexes are stabilised by approximately 550 mV and cobalt complexes by 650 mV. (ii) The auxiliary bridging carboxylato ligands further attenuate the metal-based redox chemistry. Substitution of two acetato for two trifluoroacetato ligands shifts redox couples by 300-400 mV. Within the working potential window, reversible or quasi-reversible M(II)M(III)↔ M(II)(2) processes range from 0.31 to 1.41 V for the [Co(2)(L)(RCO(2))(2)](+/2+) complexes and from 0.54 to 1.41 V for the [Mn(2)(L)(RCO(2))(2)](+/2+) complexes versus Ag/AgCl for E(M(II)M(III)/M(II)(2)). The extreme limits are defined by the complexes [M(2)(bpbp)(CH(3)CO(2))(2)](+) and [M(2)(bpsmp)(CF(3)CO(2))(2)](+) for both metal ions. Thus, tuning the ligand field in these dinuclear complexes makes possible a range of around 0.9 V and 1.49 V for the one-electron E(M(II)M(III)/M(II)(2)) couple of the Mn and Co complexes, respectively. The second one-electron process, M(II)M(III)↔ M(III)(2) was also observed in some cases. The lowest potential recorded for the E°(M(III)(2)/M(II)M(III)) couple was 0.63 V for [Co(2)(bpbp)(CH(3)CO(2))(2)](2+) and the highest measurable potential was 2.23 V versus Ag/AgCl for [Co(2)(bpsmp)(CF(3)CO(2))(2)](2+).

The new biphenol-based tetranucleating ligand, 2,2',6,6'-tetrakis(N,N-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)aminomethyl)-4,4'-biphenolate, dbpbp2-, comprises two linearly disposed phenolato-hinged dinucleating heptadentate units, each of which offer one O and three N donors to a total of four metal ions. The ligand has been isolated as the zinc chloride complex [Zn4(dbpbp)Cl4]2+, and the ZnII ions have been completely or partially substituted by CuII, FeIII, CoII, and CoIII in metathesis reactions. Similarly, the chloride ligands of [Zn4(dbpbp)Cl4]2+ have been exchanged for solvent molecules (acetonitrile and/or water) and bridging carboxylate ligands. The resulting complexes have been characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, ESI mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), cyclic voltammetry (CV), and EPR spectroscopy. The structures containing [M4(dbpbp)Cl4]2+ with M = ZnII or CuII exhibit 2-D polymeric honeycomb sheets in which intermolecular M...Cl interactions bridge between adjacent [M4(dbpbp)Cl4]2+ cations. Two mixed-metal tetrabenzoate complexes [M4(dbpbp)(O2CC6H5)4]2+/3+ have also been prepared, namely a stoichiometric CuII2ZnII2 complex and a nonstoichiometric FeIII/ZnII system. In the latter case, ESI-MS identifies FeZn3, Fe2Zn2, and Zn4 species, and X-ray crystallography suggests an average composition of Fe0.8Zn3.2. Preparation of a CoII4 complex by metathesis was considerably more difficult than preparation of [Cu4(dbpbp)Cl4]2+, requiring both a large excess of the cobalt source and the presence of auxiliary benzoate. In the presence of 2 equiv of benzoate per starting [Zn4(dbpbp)Cl4]2+ unit and excess CoII, dioxygen binds as peroxide at each end of the molecule to give the CoIII4 complex [Co4(dbpbp)(O2)2(O2CC6H5)2]4+. This latter complex, together with new tetra- and hexametallic benzenedicarboxylato- and benzenetricarboxylato-bridged complexes of dinuclear [Co2(O2)(bpbp)]3+ units (bpbp- = 2,6-bis(N,N-bis-(2-pyridylmethyl)aminomethyl)-4-tert-butyl-phenolate), is a module for potential construction of 1-D and 2-D coordination polymers/metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) capable of reversible O2 binding.