A novel dicyanamide-bridged zinc(II) complex incorporating the 4,4′-azopyridine ligand

A novel complex {[Zn(azpy)(2)(dca)(H2O)(2)] center dot ClO4 center dot azpy center dot 2H(2)O}(n) (1) has been synthesized and structurally and spectroscopically characterized, where azpy is the 4,4'-azopyridine and dca the dicyanamide. The crystal structure analysis of 1 shows that in 1 the dca ligands act as mu(1,5)-bridges linking the zinc(II) ions into 1D covalent bonding chains. The zinc(II) ion lies in a distorted octahedral environment completed by two nitrogen atoms from two terminal azpy groups, two nitrogen atoms from two dca bridges, and two water molecules. The most striking feature of 1 is that the 1D covalent bonding chains are linked through O-H center dot center dot center dot N hydrogen bonds and pi-pi stacking interactions into a 3D supramolecular structure.