Metal template reactions. II. Formation of macrocyclic quadridentate α-diimine nickel(II) complexes

Abstract

Reaction of N,N-bis(2-aminobenzylidene)ethylenediamine with biacetyl in the presence of nickel(11) chloride hexahydrate has yielded a compound which has been assigned the composition chlorohydroxo-7,8-dihydro-16,17-dimethyl- dibenzo[e,m][l,4,8,11]tetraazacyclotetradecinatonickel(11) monohydrate. Satisfactory generalization of this reaction type has not been achieved because of the difficulty of purification of the products and also because of their structural complexity. The new quadridentate amine, N,N'-bis[2-(aminomethyl)phenyl]ethylenediamine, has been prepared and this reacts with biacetyl in the presence of nickel(11) perchlorate hexahydrate, but the composition of the product could not be elucidated.