Trinodal Self-Penetrating Nets from Reactions of 1,4-Bis(alkoxy)-2,5-bis(3,2':6',3''-terpyridin-4'-yl)benzene Ligands with Cobalt(II) Thiocyanate

The tetratopic ligands 1,4-bis(2-ethylbutoxy)-2,5-bis(3,2':6',3''-terpyridin-4'-yl)benzene ( 1 ) and 1,4-bis(3-methylbutoxy)-2,5-bis(3,2':6',3''-terpyridin-4'-yl)benzene ( 2 ) have been prepared and characterized by 1 H and 13 C{ 1 H} NMR, IR, and absorption spectroscopies and mass spectrometry. Reactions of 1 and 2 with cobalt(II) thiocyanate under conditions of crystal growth at room temperature result in the formation of [{Co( 1 )(NCS) 2 }·MeOH·3CHCl 3 ] n and [{Co( 2 )(NCS) 2 }·0.8MeOH·1.8CHCl 3 ] n . Single-crystal X-ray diffraction reveals that each crystal lattice consists of a trinodal self-penetrating (6 2 .8 4 )(6 4 .8 2 )(6 5 .8) 2 net. The nodes are defined by two independent cobalt centres and the centroids of two crystallographically independent ligands which are topologically equivalent.