Four copper(II) pyrazolido complexes derived from reactions of 3{5}-substituted pyrazoles with CuF(2) or Cu(OH)(2).

Treatment of CuF(2) with 2 equiv of 3{5}-[pyrid-2-yl]pyrazole (Hpz(Py)), 3{5}-phenylpyrazole (Hpz(Ph)) or 3{5}-[4-fluorophenyl]pyrazole (Hpz(PhF)) in MeOH, followed by evaporation to dryness and recrystallisation of the solid residues, allows solvated crystals of [{Cu(micro-pz(Py))(pz(Py))}(2)] (1), [{Cu(micro-pz(Ph))(2)}(4)] (2) and [Cu(4)F(2)(micro(4)-F)(micro-pz(PhF))(5)(Hpz(PhF))(4)] (3) to be isolated in moderate-to-good yields. Similar reactions of these three pyrazoles with Cu(OH)(2) in refluxing MeOH respectively afford 1, 2 and [Cu(pz(PhF))(2)(Hpz(PhF))(2)] (4) in ca. 10% yield. Crystalline 1 x 1/2H(2)O x 2CHCl(3) contains two independent dinuclear molecules with a puckered di-(1,2-pyrazolido) bridge motif, linked by a bridging, hydrogen-bonding water molecule. Compound 2 x 1/2C(5)H(12), containing cyclic, square tetranuclear complex molecules, is the first homoleptic divalent metal pyrazolide to have a discrete molecular rather than polymeric structure, for a metal other than Pd or Pt. The two independent complex molecules in 3 x 3/4CH(2)Cl(2) x Hpz(PhF) contain a unique tetrahedral [Cu(4)(micro(4)-F)](7+) core, three of whose edges are spanned by bridging pyrazolido groups. Magnetic data show that the copper centres in 1 and 3 are antiferromagnetically coupled, but that dried bulk samples of 2 do not retain their molecular structure.