Zinc(II) and Nickel(II) Benzoate Complexes from the Use of 1-methyl-4,5-diphenylimidazole

Two new complexes, [Zn(O(2)CPh)(2)(L)(2)]·2MeOH (1 ·2MeOH) and [Ni(2)(O(2)CPh))(4)(L)(2)]·2MeCN (2 ·2MeCN), have been synthesized and characterized by X-ray analysis in the course of an ongoing investigation of the M(II)/X(−)/L [M(II) = Co, Ni, Cu, Zn; X(−) = Cl(−), Br(−), I(−), NCS(−), NO(3) (−), N(3) (−), PhCO(2) (−); L = 1-methyl-4,5-diphenylimidazole] reaction system, aiming at understanding and assessing the relative strength and the way in which the intermolecular interactions control the supramolecular organization of these compounds. In the mononuclear complex 1 ·2MeOH, the benzoate ion acts as a monodentate ligand resulting in a distorted tetrahedral N(2)O(2) coordination environment. Complex 2 ·2MeCN exhibits a dinuclear paddle-wheel structure; each Ni(II) has a square pyramidal NiNO(4) chromophore with four benzoate oxygens in the basal plane and the pyridine-type nitrogen atom of one ligand L at the apex. The structure of 1 ·2MeOH is stabilized by intramolecular π-π interactions between aromatic rings of adjacent 4,5-diphenylimidazole moieties; it is a feature also evidenced in similar compounds of the type [MX(2)L(2)].