Dehydrogenation of amines in aryl-amine functionalized pincer-like nitrogen-donor redox non-innocent ligands via ligand reduction on a Ni(ii) template

We have synthesized a series of new redox non-innocent azo aromatic pincer-like ligands: 2-(phenylazo)-6-(arylaminomethyl)pyridine (HLa-c: HLa = 2-(phenylazo)-6-(2,6-diisopropylphenylaminomethyl)pyridine, HLb = 2-(phenylazo)-6-(2,6-dimethylphenylaminomethyl)pyridine, and HLc = 2-(phenylazo)-6-(phenylaminomethyl)pyridine), in which one side arm is an arylaminomethyl moiety and the other arm is a 2-phenylazo moiety. Nickel(ii) complexes, 1-3, of these ligands HLa-c were synthesized in good yield (approximately 70%) by the reaction of ligands : (NiCl2·6H2O) in a 1 : 1 molar ratio in methanol. The amine donor in each of the ligands HLa-c binds to the Ni(ii) centre without deprotonation. In the solid state, complex 3 is a dimer; in solution it exists as monomer 3a. The reduction of acetonitrile solutions of each of the complexes 1, 2 and 3a, separately, with cobaltocene (1 equivalent), followed by exposure of the solution to air, resulted in the formation of new complexes 7, 8 and 9, respectively. Novel free ligands Lx and Ly have also been isolated, in addition to complexes 7 and 8, from the reaction of complexes 1 and 2, respectively. Complexes 7-9 and free ligands Lx and Ly have been formed via a dehydrogenation reaction of the arylaminomethyl side arm. The mechanism of the reaction was thoroughly investigated using a series of studies, including cyclic voltammetry, EPR, and UV-Vis spectral studies and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The results of these studies suggest a mechanism initiated by ligand reduction followed by dioxygen activation. A Cl-/I- scrambling experiment revealed that the dissociation of the chloride ligand(s) was associated with the one-electron reduction of the ligand (azo moiety) in each of the complexes 1, 2 and 3a. The dissociated chloride ligand(s) were reassociated with the metal following the dehydrogenation reaction to yield the final products. All of the newly synthesized compounds were fully characterized using a variety of physicochemical techniques. Single-crystal X-ray structures of the representative compounds were determined to confirm the identities of the synthesized molecules.

The oxidative dehydrogenation of a coumarinyl scaffold with copper ion and metal ion detection in human liver cancer cells (HepG2)

An unsymmetrical o-phenylenediamine derivative, L (7-hydroxy-4-methyl-8-(1-(phenyl- (pyridin-2-yl)methyl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-yl)-2H-chromen-2-one), has been synthesized from (E)-N¹-(phenyl(pyridine-2-yl)methylene)benzene-1,2-diamine with 7-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-oxo-2H-chromene-8-carbaldehyde and characterized by X-ray, IR, ¹H NMR and ESI-MS spectral analyses. The X-ray structure shows L as a cyclic benzimidazole derivative, but it undergoes ring-opening upon reaction with transition metal ions. L is non-emissive in 9 : 1 (v/v) EtOH/H₂O (HEPES buffer, pH 7.4) but becomes highly fluorescent upon Zn²⁺ coordination, and the emissive Zn(ii) complex undergoes transmetallation in the presence of Cu²⁺ ions specifically, followed by amine to imine oxidation, i.e. an oxidative dehydrogenation (OD) reaction -(2e + 2H⁺) occurs. The transmetallation of Zn²⁺ from the complex by Cu²⁺ (CuCl₂) separated the non-emissive X-ray diffractable crystal of [Cu(L'')Cl] (L'' = amine oxidized form of L). A square pyramidal [Cu(L'')][ClO₄] complex was also isolated from the reaction of L with Cu(CH₃CN)₄(ClO₄) in the presence of air, and in this complex the amine is also oxidized to the imine. Here, copper ions in the presence of air play an important role in the OD reaction of L as determined by EPR and cyclic voltammetry studies. The ligand, L, is used for Zn²⁺ ion recovery from a municipally supplied water sample. A paper strip detection kit for Zn²⁺ and Cu²⁺ is designed using L. The ligand is also used for intracellular Zn²⁺ detection in a human liver cancer cell line (HepG2).