Crystal chemistry of the 4,4'-dimethyl-2,2'bipyridine/copper bromide system

The reaction of 4,4'-dimethyl-2,2-bipyridine (henceforth dmbp) with copper(I) and/or copper(II) bromide under a wide variety of conditions has led to the isolation of 10 different crystalline materials. These include one Cu(I) salt, [Cu(dmbp)(2)]Br (a distorted tetrahedral Cu species and a lattice Br(-) ion); two mixed valence Cu(I,II) compounds, [Cu(dmbp)(2)Br][CuBr(2)] (discrete 5-coordinated Cu(II) and linear Cu(I) species) and Cu(dmbp)(2)BrCu(2)Br(3) (linked 5-coordinate Cu(II) and trigonal planar Cu(I) species); and seven Cu(II) compounds, (dmbp)CuBr(2) (stacked planar monomers), [(dmbp)CuBr(2)](2)(five coordinate bibridged dimers), (dmbp)Cu(2)Br(4) (stacked planar bibridged dimers), (dmbp)CuBr(2)(DMSO) (five coordinate monomers), [Cu(dmbp)(2)Br]OH.5(1)/(2)H(2)O and [Cu(dmbp)(2)Br](Br/OH).5(1)/(2)H(2)O (five coordinate monomers), and (dmbpH(2))CuBr(4).H(2)O (distorted tetrahedral monomers). The crystal structure determinations of these materials are reported. A common thread in their structural chemistry is the supramolecular architecture developed through interdigitation of the dmbp rings on neighboring molecular species. The interdigitation leads to layer structures in many of the materials. The distances between the interdigitated dmbp rings are in the range 3.4-3.7 A. The Cu(dmbp)(2)Br(+) species exhibits an exceptionally large distortion from tetrahedral geometry due to deviation of the dihedral angle between the mean planes of the Cu(dmbp) fragments from 90 degrees. The Cu(dmbp)(2)Br(+) cations have distorted trigonal bipyramidal geometry, the Br(-) ion occupying an equatorial position. The length of the Cu-Br bond in the Cu(dmbp)(2)Br(+) species is correlated with the change in dihedral angle between the planes of the two dmbp ligands. The mono-dmbp complexes show a greater variation in coordination geometry for the Cu(II) species, including distorted trigonal bipyramidal and augmented square planar 4 + 1 and 4 + 2 coordination.