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Salcomine is a coordination complex derived from the salen ligand and cobalt. The complex, which is planar, and a variety of its derivatives are carriers for O2 as well as oxidation catalysts.
Contents
Preparation and structure
The compound features square planar Co(II). It forms a variety of five-coordinate adducts, as is typical for complexes of d7 metals. In addition to oxygen and nitrogen donor sites provided by the salen2−, the metal typically is bound to pyridine (py) to give the complex Co(salen)(py). Such complexes bind O2 to give derivatives of the type (μ-O2)[Co(salen)py]2 and [Co(salen)py(O2)].
Salcomine is commercially available. It may be easily synthesized from cobalt(II) acetate and salenH2:
Applications
The 1938 report that this compound reversibly bound O2 led to intensive research on salen and related ligands for the storage or transport of oxygen. Salcomine catalyzes the oxidation of 2,6-disubstituted phenols by dioxygen.