Synthesis, structure and methyl methacrylate polymerization of cobalt(II), zinc(II) and cadmium(II) complexes with N,N′,N-bidentate versus N,N′,N-tridentate N,N′,N-bis((1H-pyrazol-1-yl)methyl)amines

Mononuclear Co(II), Zn(II) and Cd(II) complexes derived from bidentate or tridentate N,N′,N-bis((1H-pyrazol-1-yl)methyl)amines (L_n = L_A, L_B), where L_A is N,N-bis((1H-pyrazol-1-yl)methyl)-3-methoxypropan-1-amine and L_B is 3-methoxy-N,N-bis((3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)methyl)propan-1-amine, have been synthesized and characterized. The geometry at Co(II) and Cd(II) for [L_ACoCl₂], [L_BCoCl₂] and [L_BCdBr₂] with N,N′,N-tridentate ligands (L_n = L_A, L_B) can be described as a distorted trigonal bipyramid achieved by coordinative interaction of N_pyrazole, two halides and the nitrogen of amine moiety. However, the molecular structure of four-coordinate [L_AZnCl₂] can be best described as tetrahedral, resulting in an eight-membered chelate ring. [L_ACoCl₂] polymerized methyl methacrylate in the presence of modified methylaluminoxane at 60 °C and resulted in poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) with higher molecular weight and narrower polydispersity index compared to the other synthesized complexes. However, all the synthesized complexes yielded syndiospecific PMMA, characterized using ¹H NMR spectroscopy, with ca. 0.70.