Controlling molecular and supramolecular structure of hydrogen-bonded coordination compounds

In order to organize and assemble a variety of octahedral coordination complexes into infinite 1-D chains of desired connectivity, dibenzoylmethane was used as a chelating, "blocking" ligand, and isonicotinamide and 4-(3-carboxamidophenyl)pyridine were employed as structure directing supramolecular reagents. Five M(II) complexes were prepared using this molecular/supramolecular synthetic strategy. The crystal structure determination of these compounds shows the same principal supramolecular motif; infinite 1-D chains. In addition, the presence of the relatively bulky phenyl groups in DBM reduces packing efficiency in this system and provides better opportunities for the construction of solvated host structures.