Adducts of bis-(acetylacetonato)-zinc(II) with 1,10-phenanthroline and 2,2′-bipyridine

In each of the zinc(II) complexes bis-(acetyl-acetonato-² O,O′)(1,10-phenanthroline-² N,N′)zinc(II), [Zn(C5H7O2)2(C12H8N2)], (I), and bis-(acetyl-acetonato-² O,O′)(2,2′-bipyridine-² N,N′)zinc(II), [Zn(C5H7O2)2(C10H8N2)], (II), the metal center has a distorted octa-hedral coordination geometry. Compound (I) has crystallographically imposed twofold symmetry, with Z′ = 0.5. The presence of a rigid phenanthroline group precludes intra-molecular hydrogen bonding, whereas the rather flexible bipyridyl ligand is twisted to form an intra-molecular C - H⋯O inter-action [the chelated bipyridyl ligand is nonplanar, with the pyridyl rings inclined at an angle of 13.4 (1)°]. The two metal complexes are linked by dissimilar C - H⋯O inter-actions into one-dimensional chains. The present study demonstrates the distinct effects of two commonly used ligands, viz. 1,10-phenanthroline and 2,2′-bipyridine, on the structures of metal complexes and their assembly.