SYNTHESIS, STRUCTURE AND CHARACTERIZATION OF THE BINUCLEAR COPPER(II)COMPLEX [CU(C6H5COO)(2)(C5H6N2)](2)CENTER-DOT(C4H8O)(2)

Binuclear copper complexes are very important in coordination chemistr y and catalytic reactions. Certain copper complexes have been shown to have unusual chemical properties of importance in such diverse areas as oxygen transfer, oxidative addition and homogenous hydrogenation.(1 ) To obtain insight into the correlation between the structure and nat ure of copper proteins, low-molecular-weight coordination compounds ma y be used to model these copper proteins.(2) The electronic structure and bonding at copper proteins can be profitably pursued by studying m odel complexes. These considerations prompted efforts to develop easy methods for the synthesis of binuclear copper complexes which would po ssess novel coordination chemistry. This report concerns an oxidative preparation method for a dinuclear copper(II) complex and the X-ray st ructure analysis of the title complex. It also describes a detailed st udy of the spectroscopic properties of the title compound.