,','' ,', imine-containing coordination motifs: ligand-directed synthesis of mononuclear and binuclear Cu compounds.

It is demonstrated here that tridentate imine ligands can control the nuclearity of copper(II) complexes based on the donor atoms present in the ligand. The ,',''-donating imine ligand led to a mononuclear compound, namely di-chlorido-[,-dimethyl-'-(pyridin-2-yl-methyl-idene)ethane-1,2-di-amine]copper(II) monohydrate, [CuCl(CHN)]·HO, , while the ,',-donating imine ligand produced a binuclear metal complex, namely μ-chlorido-di-chlorido-(μ-2-{[2-(di-methyl-amino)-ethyl]imino-methyl}phenolato)(,-dimethyl-ethylene-di-amine)-dicopper(II) 0.11-hydrate, [Cu(CHNO)Cl(CHN)]·0.11HO, . The structure of is a remarkable example of a binuclear copper(II) complex containing a single substituted 2-imino-methyl-phenolate ligand that has two copper(II) sites in square-pyramidal coordination.