II cation shows a distorted octahedral coordination environment. It is formed by two N atoms from the phenanthroline ligand, as well as two N and two O atoms belonging to two 2-[(2-hydroxybenzyl)amino]-4-methylpentanoate ligands. Complex molecules are connected into layers propagating along the ab plane via hydrogen bonds formed by O atoms of carboxylate and phenoxide groups, which are further connected into a three-dimensional motif.
Chemical contextThe design and synthesis of metal complexes have attracted considerable attention for their potential applications in catalysis, magnetism, materials science and pharmaceutical chemistry (Che & Siu, 2010). Mononuclear ethylenediaminediacetate complexes can be used to bind and cleave DNA under physiological conditions and binuclear complexes containing bipyridyl or phenanthroline units in their structure show antiviral activity, as well as inhibition of proviral DNA synthesis (Rajendiran et al., 2007). On the other hand, using bifunctional ligands that are capable of simultaneously coordinating to a metal centre and providing hydrogen bonding gives important experimental data for a better understanding of the key tools in crystal engineering (Burrows, 2004). Metal complexes of 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) and its derivatives are of increasing interest because of their versatile roles in many fields, such as analytical chemistry (Chalk & Tyson, 1994), catalysis (Samnani et al., 1996), electrochemical polymerization (Bachas et al., 1997) and biochemistry (Sammes & Yahioglu, 1994). 1,10-Phenanthroline is a bidentate chelating ligand with notable coordination ability for transition metal cations. Over the last few decades, the complex formation of transition metal ions with amino acids has also been studied extensively (Auclair et al., 1984). Amino acid-metallic ion interactions are found to be responsible for enzymatic activity and the stability of protein structures (Dinelli et al., 2010). Nickel is also essential for the healthy life of animals since it is associated with several enzymes (Poellot et al., 1990) and plays a role in physiological processes as a cofactor in the absorption of iron from the intestine (Nielsen, 1980). Any change in its concentration leads to metabolic disorder (Kolodziej, 1994). With the discovery of the biological importance of nickel, it is essential to study its complex formation with amino acids in order to ISSN 2056-9890 gain a better understanding of the functions of their complexes (Faizi & Sharkina, 2015). Therefore, we report here the preparation and the crystal structure of a nickel(II) complex with the formula: [Ni(C 13 H 18 NO 3 ) 2 (C 12 H 8 N 2 )], (I).
Structural commentaryThe complex molecule of I, represented in Fig. 1, contains one crystallographically independent Ni II cation, which is octahedrally coordinated by two molecules of deprotonated 2-[(2-hydroxybenzyl)amino]-4-methylpentanoic acid via their N atoms and one of the carboxylate atoms each. The coordination environment is completed by one bidentate phenanthroline ...