Syntheses, Crystal Structures and Luminescent Properties of Two Schiff Base Complexes

Two new transition metal complexes based on chiral Schiff base ligand, namely Zn(L-1)(2) (1) and Cd(L-2)(2) (2) (L-1 = (R,E)-3-(2-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzylideneamino)propane-1,2-diol, L-2= (R, E)-2-((2-hydroxy-1-phenylethylimino)methyl)-6-methoxyphenol), have been synthesized and characterized. Single-crystal X-ray diffractions reveal that both 1 and 2 crystallize in the same monoclinic space group C-2. 1 is four-coordinated, while 2 is six-coordinated. Complexes 1 and 2 show fluorescent emission at 479 and 580 nm, respectively. Moreover, 1 and 2 exhibit selective and sensitive recognition toward Zn2+/Cd2+ ions in the methanol solution.