First structural example of a metal uncoordinated mesoionic imidazo[1,5-a]pyridine and its precursor intermediate copper complex: an insight to the catalytic cycle.

Four copper complexes of a tridentate Schiff base ligand, 2-pyridyl-N-(2'-methylthiophenyl) methyleneimine, L(1) have been synthesized. All theses species, namely, [L(1)Cu(2)(SCN)(3)](n) (1), [Cu(SCN)(CH(3)CN)](n) (3), [(L(1))Cu(N(3))(Cl)] (4) and [(L(1))Cu(N(3))(SCN)] (5) have been structurally characterized. Complex 1 in acetonitrile promotes cycloaddition of a Cu(II) bound SCN(-) ion to L(1) that exclusively and stoichiometrically forms a mesoionic imidazo[1,5-a]pyridine, namely, 3-(imino-N'-2-methylthiophenyl)imidazo[1,5-a]pyridinium-1-thiolate (2) and a thiocyanato bridged Cu(i) complex, [Cu(SCN)(CH(3)CN)](n) (3). The X-ray crystal structure of 1 confirms the presence of square-pyramidal Cu(II) and tetrahedral Cu(I) ions in N(3)S(2) and N(2)S(2) coordination environments, respectively, bridged to each other via thiocyanate anion. The Cu(II) ions are bonded to a tridentate ligand L(1) and two SCN(-) ions occupy the remaining equatorial and an axial coordination site to adopt a square-pyramidal coordination geometry. To investigate which SCN(-) ion, axially or equatorially bound to Cu(II) center, underwent cycloaddition to L(1) to form 2, two mononuclear Cu(II) complexes 4 and 5 have been synthesized and their reactivity towards externally added KSCN was studied. The molecular structures of 4 and 5 feature a meridionally bound L(1) and an azide ion (N(3)(-)) in the square plane, while a Cl(-) or SCN(-) ion are occupying the axial site, respectively, to fulfill square-pyramidal coordination geometry. Complex 4 reacts with SCN(-) ion to form 5. That an MeCN solution of 5 itself, or of 5 in the presence of KSCN, does not produce 2, supports that possibly the Cu(II) bound equatorial SCN(-) ion is responsible for cycloaddition to L(1). Dark purple solid 2 has also been prepared (turnover number ~4 or 41% yield) efficiently following an alternative and easier one-pot synthesis procedure, that is from a mixture of KSCN and L(1) in the presence of a catalytic amount of anhydrous CuCl(2) (10 mol%) in MeCN in air. The X-ray crystal structure, (1)H NMR spectrum and solution conductivity measurements strongly support that 2 is mesoionic. An MeCN solution of 2 fluoresces at room temperature upon excitation at 240 nm with an emission maximum λ(em) at 470 nm, associated with a quantum yield of 0.16 with respect to a standard Rhodamine-6G fluorophore. This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2011