Addition of 1,2-phenylenediamine to solutions of bis(1,1,1,5,5,5-hexafluoro
pentane-2,4-dionato-O,O')coblat(II)-iron(II) and -nickel(II) resulted in cr
ystals containing centrosymmetric octahedral complexes with two amines per
metal atom. In all three isostructural complexes, i.e. [M(C5HF6O2)(2)(C6H8N
2)(2)] where M = Fe, Cu and Ni, the two C-N bonds differ significantly in l
ength by an average of 0.031 (3) Angstrom. The phenyl C-C bonds display a p
attern of small differences, the C-C bond between the amines being longer t
han the shortest phenyl C-C bonds by an average of 0.022 (4) Angstrom.