Syntheses, crystal structures and catecholase activity of new dinuclear and cyclic trinuclear mixed valence cobalt (II, III) complexes

Mixed valence cobalt (II, III) systems, one binuclear CoIIICoII (1) and another novel cyclic trinuclear CoIIICoII2 (2) complexes based on hydroxyl rich Schiff base ligands are synthesized and structurally characterized by X-ray crystallography. Catalytic activity of 1 and 2 towards oxidation of 3, 5-di-tert-butylcatechol (3,5-DTBC) to its corresponding quinone (3,5-DTBQ) are investigated in MeOH and DMF. ESI-MS technique is employed to characterize the intermediates.