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Updated: Mar 31, 2026

Structure and Coordination Determination of Peptide-metal Complexes Using 1D and 2D 1H NMR
Published on: December 16, 2013
Copper(II) Complexes of Cyclams Containing Nitrophenyl Substituents: Push-Pull Behavior and Scorpionate Coordination
Massimo Boiocchi, Carlo Ciarrocchi, Luigi Fabbrizzi
1Centro Singular de Investigación en Química Biolóxica e Materiales Moleculares (CIQUS) and Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela , 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Abstract:
The three nitrophenyl-cyclam derivatives (nitrocyclams): 1-(4-nitrophenyl)-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane (2), 1-(2-nitrophenyl)-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane (3), and 1-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane (4), in an MeCN solution, specifically incorporate the Cu(II) ion according to an irreversible process signaled by disappearance of the yellow color for a concentration c < 1 × 10(-4) M and by a yellow-to-red color change for c ≥ 1 × 10(-3), and must be considered efficient and specific dosimeters of copper(II) salts. When present in the ortho position of the nitrophenyl substituent, the -NO2 group coordinates the Cu(II) according to a scorpionate mode, while the metallocyclam system exhibits a trans-I configuration. In an MeCN solution the red trans-I-[Cu(II)(3)](2+) and trans-I-[Cu(II)(4)](2+) scorpionate complexes slowly convert into the violet trans-III scorpionate complexes. Kinetic aspects of the trans-I-to-trans-III configurational rearrangement were investigated in detail for the [Cu(II)(4)](2+) system. In particular, the conversion is spectacularly accelerated by catalytic amounts of Cl(-), NCO(-), and F(-). While for Cl(-) and NCO(-) the effect can be associated with the capability of the anion to stabilize through coordination a possible dissociative intermediate, the amazingly powerful effect of F(-) must be related to the preliminary deprotonation of one N-H fragment of the macrocycle, driven by the formation of the HF2(-) ion. Most of the metal complex species studied in solution were isolated in a crystalline form, and their molecular structures were elucidated through X-ray diffraction studies. This study documents the first examples of effective metal coordination by the nitro group.
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Structural Isomerism
Isomers are different chemical species that have the same chemical formula. Structural isomerism of coordination compounds can be divided into two subcategories, the linkage isomers and coordination-sphere isomers.
Linkage isomers occur when the coordination compound contains a ligand that can bind to the transition metal center through two different atoms. For example, the CN− ligand can bind through the carbon atom or through the nitrogen atom. Similarly, SCN− can...
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meta-Directing Deactivators: –NO2, –CN, –CHO, –⁠CO2R, –COR, –CO2H
ortho–para-Directing Activators: –CH3, –OH, –⁠NH2, –OCH3
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