The aggregation of molecular building blocks via selfassembly has recently been of wide interest because the potential of the ordered network directed either by metal ions or by hydrogen bonds offers opportunities to develop new approaches for functional materials.1 In the former, deliberate designs of transition metals with certain linear bifunctional ligands, e.g., 4,4

A dinuclear manganese macrocyclic complex with functional pendant arms, [Mn2(II)HL2](ClO4), has been prepared by the cyclocondensation of sodium 2,6-diformyl-4-methylphenolate with N,N-bis(2-aminoethyl)-N-(2-hydroxybenzyl)amine and subsequent transmetallation of Mn(II)(ClO4)2. In the molecular structure of the complex, each pendant arm is bound to an adjacent manganese atom and both arms lie on the same side of the resulting tetra-imine macrocycle. Each manganese(II) ion is in a distorted octahedral configuration. The variable-temperature magnetism and the cyclic voltammogram of the complex have also been investigated. In the catalytic study, this compound exhibits a high activity for catalyzing disproportionation of H2O2 to O2.

A chiral heptanuclear nickel(II) complex [NiII(NiII 2L)3(μ3-OH)2]·3H2O [H4L=(2R,3R)-1,4-bis(3,5-di-tert-butylsalicylideneamino)-2,3-butanediol], containing two μ3-OH bridges, has been prepared and structurally characterized; its thermal and magnetic properties were investigated.

A series of novel cisplatin-type platinum complexes, formulated as [PtA2(OCOCH2OR)2] (A2 = two monoamines or one diamine, R is an alkyl group), were designed, characteristic of alkoxyacetate as carboxylato ligands. The pertinent compounds were prepared and characterized by elementary analyses, IR, 1H NMR, and ESI-MS spectra. The cytotoxic activities of compound 1a in vitro toward HL-60 human leukemia and BEL-7402 human hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines were pioneeringly studied. Then, compounds 1b-3d were evaluated for their in vitro cytotoxicity against Ramos human lymphoma, 3AO human ovarian carcinoma, and A549 human non-small cell lung cancer cell lines. Most of them showed better cytotoxic activity than carboplatin against above selected cell lines.

Several chiral copper(II) complexes of optically active Schiff bases (R,R)-4a-c, which have central seven-membered chelate rings, have been synthesized and characterized. X-ray single crystal analysis of a typical compound indicated that the complex is monomeric and the geometry around the metal atom is very distorted tetrahedral. All the complexes have been tested as catalysts for asymmetric oxidation of methyl phenyl sulfide. The mechanism of the catalytic reaction in the presence of these complexes has been tentatively elucidated.