Synthesis, complexation, and coordination oligomerization of 1,8-pyrazine-capped 5,12-dioxocyclams

(Methyl)(methoxy)-5,12-dioxocyclam 1 was alkylated on the secondary amines (capped) with 2,6-bis(bromomethyl)pyrazine. The resulting macrocycle was complexed to copper(II) to produce a five-coordinate complex 5a which was fully characterized by a range of spectroscopic methods (IR, UV-vis, ESR) as well as by X-ray crystallography. The structure of this complex is similar to the previously reported pyridine complex, with the five-coordinate copper having distorted square pyramidal geometry and a Cu-Pz bond length of 2.125 A. Attempts to prepare this same complex under microwave irradiation instead produced a trinuclear complex 6a having an octahedral copper(II) center complexed to two pyrazine-cyclam copper units through the amide carbonyl oxygen and the methoxyl group oxygen of the cyclam unit. The X-ray crystal structure of the trinuclear complex showed extensive distortion in the cyclam rings. The remote nitrogen of pyrazine-cyclam complex 5a was capable of coordinating an additional metal. Treatment with RuCl(2)(DMSO)(4) or Rh(2)(OAc)(4), respectively, produced trimetallic Cu-Ru-Cu complex 7 or tetrametallic Cu-Rh-Rh-Cu complex 8. The latter was fully characterized, including an X-ray crystal structure, and had two pyrazine-cyclam complexes bridged by a Rh(2)(OAc)(4) unit through the remote pyrazine nitrogens. There was little distortion in the pyrazine-cyclam copper units as compared to complex 5a: the four metals were collinear, and the two cyclam units were eclipsed. All of the copper complexes were subjected to cyclic voltametry measurements, and no reversible redox changes were observed. Magnetic measurements of 6a and 8 showed the copper atoms to be weakly antiferromagnetically coupled.