Probing copper halide supramolecular arrays of a ditopic ligand with complexes of a monotopic analogue

The ligand bis(2-pyridylmethyl)sulfide L' and the complexes it formed were used as simple probes for the complexes of 2,5-bis(2-pyridylmethylsufanylmethyl) pyrazine L. L' and L were reacted in 1:1 and 1:2 molar ratios, respectively, with both CuCl2 and CuI. Crystal structures of all four complexes were determined, CuCl2L'.H2O (1), Cu2Cl4L (2), Cu2I2L'(2) (3) and [Cu2I2L] (4). The Cu(II) ions in 1 and 2 were square pyramidal. For 2 crystal structures of the anti (2a) and the syn (2b) isomers were determined and both were found to form proto-polymeric chains. Complex 3 was dimeric and contained Cu2I2 bridges. The structure of 4 revealed one-dimensional polymeric chains in which the ligands were joined by Cu2I2 bridges. This work demonstrated the successful use of the complexes of L' as probes for 4 and to a lesser extent for 2a and 2b.