Reactivity of Cyanogen toward Compounds Containing Active Hydrogens at Carbon. 5. Cyanoimination Reaction of β-Keto Enolato and Schiff-Base Complexes of Copper and Nickel

Bis(β-keto enolato)copper(II) complexes and nickel(II) and copper(II) complexes of the Schiff-base condensation products of 1,3-diketones and diamines react with cyanogen in chlorinated solvents to give cyanoimino-substituted organometallic rings. The reactions occur with high yields and display rates that are strongly affected by the central metal and by the nature of the substituents on the ligands. The new compounds were fully characterized by elemental analysis, melting points, infrared and electronic spectroscopy, mass spectra, and thermoanalysis. The product [Cu(en(ba)2(C2N2)2)] (en(ba)2 = Schiff base from benzoylacetone and ethylenediamine) was characterized by X-ray single-crystal analysis. The space group is P21/n, Z = 4, with cell parameters a = 19.863 (9) Å, b = 12.184 (8) Å, c = 9.739 (6) Å, and β = 98.4 (1)°. © 1983, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.