Copper(II) complexes carrying pyridylmethyleneaminobenzoate or –propanoate ligands, LCuX, were prepared in one-pot reactions from pyridinecarboxaldehyde, aminobenzoic acid or β-alanine, and CuX2 (X = Cl, NO3, OAc, or OTf). All complexes were characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies and formed either dimers, tetramers, or coordination polymers. Attempted preparation of the respective alkoxide complexes, LCu(OR), was unsuccessful, but use of LCuX/NaOMe mixtures in rac-lactide polymerization indicated under some conditions coordination–insertion polymerization via a copper alkoxide as the mechanism. The complexes performed poorly in rac-lactide polymerization, showing low activities (12 h to completion at 140 °C), low to moderate heterotacticity (Pr = 0.6–0.8), and poor polymer molecular weight control (intramolecular transesterification). They were competent catalysts for Chan–Evans–Lam couplings with phenylboronic acid, without any indication of side reactions such as deboration or aryl homocoupling. The complexes were active in undried methanol, without addition of base, ligand, or molecular sieves. Aniline, n-octylamine, and cyclohexylamine were coupled quantitatively under identical reaction conditions. There is only little influence of the anion on activities (less than a factor of 2) but a strong influence on induction periods. The complexes were not active in CEL coupling with alcohols, phenols, or alkylboronic acids.
Syntheses, Solid-state Structures and Catalytic Activity of Zinc Carboxylate Complexes in Lactide Polymerization