Reduction of Copper(II) Complexes of Tripodal Ligands by Nitric Oxide and Trinitrosation of the Ligands

The copper(II) centers in two copper(II) complexes of tripodal amine ligands, in acetonitrile solvent, upon exposure to nitric oxide have been found to produce a thermally unstable [Cu-II-NO] intermediate followed by the reduction of copper(II) to copper(I). This reduction resulted in the concomitant trinitrosation of the ligands at their terminal amine centers.