Supramolecular Aggregates of Defined Stereochemical Scaffolds: Aggregation/Deaggregation in Schiff-Base Zinc(II) Complexes Derived from Enantiopure trans-1,2-Diaminocyclohexane.

This contribution explores, through detailed 1H NMR, DOSY NMR, optical absorption, and circular dichroism spectroscopic studies, the aggregation properties in solution of noncoordinating solvents of some new ZnII Schiff-base complexes, (R)-1, (S)-1, and (R)-2, derived from the chiral trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane. It is found that chloroform solutions of 1 are characterized by the presence of three species, the predominance of which consists of large oligomeric aggregates. For chloroform solutions of 1, upon heating or standing, all species are irreversibly converted into a dimer, 1C, which is very stable and hardly disaggregable. Analysis of 1H NMR, UV/vis, and CD spectroscopic data and chemical evidence allow proposing a double helicate Zn2L2 structure with a tetrahedral coordination around the ZnII ions for 1C, as a consequence of the defined stereochemistry of the trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane chelate bridge. This represents a different, uncommon aggregation mode in ZnII complexes of tetradentate Schiff-bases.