Structures and spin states of bis(tridentate)-type mononuclear and triple helicate dinuclear iron(II) complexes of imidazole-4-carbaldehyde azine.

Mononuclear [Fe(H(2)L(R))(2)](2+) and dinuclear [Fe(2)(H(2)L(R))(3)](4+) (R = H, 2-Me, 5-Me) complexes containing the new imidazole-4-carbaldehyde azine ligand (H(2)L(H)) and its derivatives (H(2)L(2-Me) and H(2)L(5-Me)) prepared from the condensation reaction of 4-formylimidazole or 2-methyl- or 5-methyl-4-formylimidazole with hydrazine (2:1) were prepared, and their magnetostructural relationships were studied. In the mononuclear complexes, H(2)L(R) acts as an unsymmetrical tridentate ligand with two imidazole nitrogen atoms and one azine nitrogen atom, while in the dinuclear complexes, H(2)L(R) acts as a dinucleating ligand employing four nitrogen atoms to form a triple helicate. At room temperature, [Fe(2)(H(2)L(H))(3)](ClO(4))(4) and [Fe(2)(H(2)L(2-Me))(3)](ClO(4))(4) were in the high-spin (HS) and low-spin (LS) states, respectively.