Polyfluorosalicylic acids as ligands for the creation of bioactive metal complexes

The reactions of copper(II) and cobalt(II) mixed complexes based on methyl trifluorosalicylate and 2,2’-bipyridine and 1,10-phenanthroline with 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoropropan-2-ol (HFIP) as the Lewis acid were investigated. In the case of copper(II) complexes, the hydrolysis of ester fragment occurred to form heteroligand complexes of trifluorosalicylic acid and bipyridine-like ligand associated with fluorinated alcohol. The structure of complexes corresponded to [Cu(L3-H2)(bipy or phen)*(HFIP), L3 −trifluorosalicylic acid]. In contrast, cobalt(II) complexes in refluxing HFIP resulted in the complexes [Co(L1-H)2(bipy or phen)*(HFIP), L1 – methyl trifluorosalicylate], in which the ester ligand was preserved.