Iron(II) Spin Crossover Polymers of Planar N2O2 Schiff Base Templates and 4,4’-bis(pyridyl)urea Bridges

The synthesis of four new iron(II) coordination polymers [Fe(L1a)(bpua)] (1), [Fe(L1b)(bpua)](0.5bpua) (2), [Fe(L2a)(bpua)] (3), [Fe(L1b)(bpua)](yEtOH) (5) and one trinuclear complex [{Fe(L1a)(bpua)(MeOH)}2-µ{Fe(L1a)}](xMeOH) (4) with Schiff base-like N2O2coordinating equatorial ligands (L1a, L1b and L2a) and 4,4’-bis(pyridyl)urea (bpua) as bridging axial ligand is described.Single crystal X-ray structure elucidation of the trinuclear module4and of the coordination polymer5reveals the presence of HS-LS-HS chains and all-HS infinite 1-D strands, respectively. As anticipated the presence of the bridging urea supports the supramolecular concatenation within an extended hydrogen-bonding network. Magnetic measurements reveal spin crossover behavior for four of the five complexes (1–4) that is strongly solvent dependent.Interestingly, in two cases, complete removal of the solvent from the crystal packing leads to wider thermal hysteresis loops.