Synthesis, X-ray structures and magnetic properties of Ni(II) complexes of heteroaromatic hydrazone

Abstract

Two binuclear double end-on azido bridged Ni(II) complexes, [Ni2L2(μ-1,1-N3)2(N3)2]⋅2H2O (1a), and [Ni2L2(μ-1,1-N3)2(N3)2]⋅4H2O (1b) having the same inner sphere, where L=((E)-N,N,N-trimethyl-2-oxo-2-(2-(1-(thiazol-2-yl)ethylidene)hydrazinyl)ethan-1-aminium, were synthesized from the same solution and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction methods. Variable‐temperature magnetic susceptibility measurements showed intra-dimer ferromagnetic coupling between Ni(II) ions. The ferromagnetic coupling is supported by the broken-symmetry DFT calculations, with the level of theory chosen based on a benchmark study on 19 additional structurally related binuclear Ni(II) complexes. The role of water molecules in crystals of 1a and 1b is explained by DFT based energy decomposition analysis.