文摘
The tricyclic bisamidines L1 and L2 are designed to be preconstrained so as to present synperiplanar donor sites for metal coordination. Their very different bite angles of 35° and 70° result from the incorporation of two five-membered instead of six-membered rings in their respective backbones. Distinct coordination preferences in a variety of metal complexes have now been confirmed by X-ray structural studies. While L1 afforded monodentate, symmetrical and unsymmetrical chelating as well as bimetallic bridging modes in its complexes, L2 has been found exclusively in a bidentate chelating mode.