An Attempt to Programme the Orientation of Bis(heterocyclic) Azine Heterotopic Sequences around Ag I , Cu I and Zn II Metal Centres

Four novel bis(heterocyclic) sequences, which incorporate a 2,2′‐bipyridine system with the 2,2′‐bithiazole, 4,4′‐bithiazole, 2,2′‐bipyrazine or 4,4′‐bipyrimidine units, have been synthesized. In the presence of stoichiometric amounts of Cu I , Ag I or Zn II cations, fully oriented discrete head‐to‐head (H‐H) or head‐to‐tail (H‐T) species have been observed by NMR and X‐ray crystallography. The orientation of the ligands in the Ag I , Cu I or Zn II dinuclear complexes during the self‐assembly process appears to be under the control of electronic factors relating to the electronic configuration of the different bis(heterocyclic) sequences. (© Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2004)