Synthesis of palladium(II) 3d-metal(II) paddlewheel acetate-bridged heterodimetallic complexes: Unexpected catalysis by water molecules

A study of the reaction kinetics between the trinuclear palladium(II) acetate Pd-3(mu-OOCMe)(6) (1) and the mononuclear 3d-metal (Ni-II, Co-II, Cu-II) acetates in acetic acid under water-specified conditions revealed a fairly complicated reaction mechanism triggered by the primary hydrolytic cleavage of an acetate bridge in molecule 1. The isolated reaction products, as established by X-ray diffraction study, are 1D polymeric complexes {Pd(mu-OOCMe)(4)M(OH2)(HOOCMe)(2)}(n) (M = Ni-II, Co-II, Cu-II, Mn-II, Zn-II) built of the Pd-II-based paddlewheel units [Pd(mu-OOCMe)(4)M] and linked trough the H- bonded H2O and MeCOOH molecules. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.