Halogen Bonding in New Dichloride-Cobalt(II) Complex with Iodo Substituted Chalcone Ligands

Abstract

The synthesis and properties of new chalcone ligand 4I-L ((2E)-1-[4-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)phenyl]-3-(4-iodophenyl)prop-2-en-1-one) and tetracoordinate Co(II) complex [Co(4I-L)2Cl2], (1a), are reported in this article. Upon recrystallization of 1a, the single crystals of [Co(4I-L)4Cl2]·2DMF·3Et2O (1b) were obtained and crystal structure was determined using X-ray diffraction. The non-covalent interactions in 1b were thoroughly analyzed and special attention was dedicated to interactions formed by the peripheral iodine substituents. The density functional theory (DFT), atoms in molecule (AIM) and noncovalent interaction (NCI) methods and electronic localization function (ELF) calculations were used to investigate halogen bond formed between the iodine functional groups and co-crystallized molecules of diethyl ether.