Studies of bicarbonate binding by dinuclear and mononuclear Ni(II) complexes

Bicarbonate ion reacts with the dinuclear nickel(II) complex containing the taec ligand (taec = N,N',N' ',N' ''-tetrakis(2-aminoethyl)-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane) in buffered aqueous solution to form the mu-eta(2),eta(2)-carbonate complex with a large effective binding constant for bicarbonate ion, log K(B) = 4.39 at pH = 7.4. In contrast, the dinuclear nickel(II) complex containing the o-xyl-DMC(2) ligand (o-xyl-DMC(2) = alpha,alpha'-bis(5,7-dimethyl-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecan-6-yl)-o-xylene) does not react with bicarbonate or carbonate ion in aqueous solution. In propylene carbonate, the reaction of [Ni(2)(o-xyl-DMC(2))](4+) with bicarbonate proceeds rapidly to form the mu-eta(1),eta(1)-carbonate complex. The structure of this carbonate complex has been determined by an X-ray diffraction study that confirms the mu-eta(1),eta(1)-carbonate binding mode. A mononuclear analogue of [Ni(2)(taec)](4+), [Ni(2,3,2-tetraamine)](2+) does not form a detectable mononuclear or dinuclear product with bicarbonate ion in aqueous solution, but [NiDMC](2+) (DMC = 5,7-dimethyl-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane) reacts slowly with carbonate ion in aqueous solution to form a 2:1 complex.