(-)-Sparteine Copper(II) Dinitrite

The title complex, [Cu(NO₂)₂(C₁₅H₂₆N₂)], has been prepared and its crystal structure determined. The chiral nitrogen-chelating alkaloid (-)-sparteine acts as a bidentate ligand, reacting with one Cu^II ion in ethanol to form the title complex, with two nitrite groups occupying the remaining coordination sites, to produce a distorted five-coordinate square-pyramidal structure. One nitrite is bound through one O atom and the other nitrite acts as a [eta]²-chelating group.

-1