Peripheral functionalisation of the nickel(II) complex of a tetradentate (N₃O) ligand via a pendant amine substituent

The reactivity of the nickel(II) complex (1) of a tetradentate (N₃O) ligand containing a pendant amine group has been demonstrated by reaction with a variety of electrophilic reagents, including iodomethane, acetyl chloride, benzoyl chloride, 4-vinylbenzoyl chloride, acryloyl chloride, toluene-p-sulphonyl chloride, N-acryloylsuccinimide, and the copolymer of N-acryloylsuccinimide and n-butyl acrylate, yielding a series of new complexes. The complex containing a p-vinylbenzoyl substituent group behaved as a comonomer in free-radical-initiated copolymerisation with methyl methacrylate to produce a polymer containing a covalently bound complex. A new fifteen-membered asymmetric macrocyclic complex has been prepared by the self-condensation reaction of complex (1).