Competition between coordination bonds and hydrogen bonding interactions in solvatomorphs of copper(II), cadmium(II) and cobalt(II) complexes with 2,2′-bipyridyl and acetate

Abstract

The delicate balance among conformation, coordination bonds and hydrogen bonding has been probed in solvatomorphs of known metal-organic molecules synthesised from copper(II), cadmium(II) and cobalt(II) with acetate (OAc) and 2,2′-bipyridine (bipy). The Cu(OAc)2(bipy) complex, isolated as a pentahydrate, has the acetate ligands oriented to opposite sides of the coordination square plane. DFT calculations show the energy difference between this structure and a syn form amount to approximately 16 kJ/mol. The presence of lattice water enables the formation of O–H···O hydrogen bonds with the acetate ligands. Different coordination numbers and energies are found as a function of the number of water molecules co-crystallising in the Cd(OAc)2(bipy)(OH2)·3H2O and [Co(OAc)(bipy)2](OAc)·3H2O complexes.