Syntheses and Structures of Homodinuclear (Na–Na) and Heterodinuclear (Cu–Na, Cu–K) Metal Complexes

The study of polynuclear metal complexes has gained great recognition over the last decade owing to their fascinating topological structures, various properties, and potential applications as functional solid materials in luminescence, catalysis, and magnetic materials. A large number of heterodinuclear 3d–4f and 3d–3d′ complexes have been widely studied due to their functional applications. To our knowledge, structurally characterised heterodinuclear (3d–Na, 3d–K) and homodinuclear (Na–Na) metal complexes are rare. Three metal complexes, [CuIINaI(HL1)2(SbF6)]n (1), [CuIIKI(HL1)2(PF6)]n (2), and [Na2(H2L2)2] (3), were synthesised by two kinds of ligands, o-vanillin (HL1) and N,N′-ethylene-bis(3-methoxysalicylideneimine) (H2L2). The structures of heterodinuclear complexes 1 and 2 are both one-dimensional chain structures, including transition metal ions (CuII) and main group metal ions (NaI and KI). However, the complex 3, as a homodinuclear metal complex, only has one kind of centre, a NaI ion. The structures of complexes 1–3 were determined by single crystal X-ray crystallographic studies.