Oxidation of substituted phenols using copper(II) metallatriangles formed through ligand sharing

Reaction of N(2),N(2')-bis-[(1-butyl-benzimidazol-2yl)methyl]biphenyl-2,2'-dicarboxamide (L) with CuX2⋅nH2O in methanol leads to the assembly of four trinuclear Cu(II) complexes with the general formula [Cu3(L)3X3]⋅3X⋅nH2O⋅mMeCN, where X=Cl(-), Br(-), NO3(-) and C6H5COO(-) and n=0-5, m=0-8 (compounds 1-4, respectively). The structure of one of the complex contains three Cu(II) metal ions at the corners of an equilateral triangle. Each of the copper(II) are coordinated through two benzimidazolyl imine N-atoms and two amide carbonyl O-atoms and the apical position is occupied by an anionic nitrate ion, leading to a distorted square pyramidal environment. The magnetic susceptibility data were analyzed through Hamiltonian H=-J (S1S2+S2S3+S1S3) obtaining -J=0.16, 0.12, 0.15 and 0.14cm(-1) for 1-4, respectively. X-Band EPR spectra typically show a broad single line at 120K with g∼2.11. Oxidation of phenols was studied homogeneously using copper(II) metallatriangles (1-3) as catalyst in acetonitrile. The oxidation of 2,4,6-tri-tert-butyl phenol yields the corresponding quinone after oxidative dealkylation. The oxidation of 2-amino-5-methyl phenol yields the corresponding phenoxazinone while the oxidation of 2-amino-4-tert-butyl phenol yields the phenoxazine instead of phenoxazinone. The products so obtained were analyzed by NMR and X-ray single crystallography.