Chirality at metal and helical ligand folding in optical isomers of chiral bis(naphthaldiminato)nickel(II) complexes.

Enantiopure bis[{(R or S)-N-1-(Ar)ethyl-2-oxo-1-naphthaldiminato-κ(2)N,O}]nickel(ii) complexes {Ar = C6H5 ( or ), p-OMeC6H4 ( or ), and p-BrC6H4 ( or )} are synthesized from the reactions between (R or S)-N-1-(Ar)ethyl-2-oxo-1-naphthaldimine and nickel(ii) acetate. Circular-dichroism spectra and their density-functional theoretical simulation reveal the expected mirror image relationship between the enantiomeric pairs / and / in solution. CD spectra are dominated by the metal-centered Λ- or Δ-chirality of non-planar four-coordinated nickel, this latter being in turn dictated by the ligand chirality. Single crystal structure determination for and shows that there are two symmetry-independent molecules (A and B) in each asymmetric unit that give a Z' = 2 structure. Two asymmetric and chiral bidentate N^O-chelate Schiff base ligands coordinate to the nickel atom in a distorted square planar N2O2-coordination sphere. The conformational difference between the symmetry-independent molecules arises from the "up-or-down" folding of the naphthaldiminato ligand with respect to the coordination plane, which creates right- (P) or left-handed (M) helical conformations. Overall, the combination of ligand chirality, chirality at the metal and ligand folding gives rise to discrete metal helicates of preferred helicity in a selective way. Cyclic voltammograms (CV) show an oxidation wave at ca. 1.30 V for the [Ni(L)2]/[Ni(L)2](+) couple, and a reduction wave at ca. -0.35 V for the [Ni(L)2]/[Ni(L)2](-) couple in acetonitrile.