Novel chains constructed from heterotrinuclear units and 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethane formulated as [M2M′(O2CPh)6](bpa) (M = Co, Zn, M′ = Co, Cd): Their catalytic activity

Three novel heterometallic complexes containing two bridging ligands bpa and benzoate, formulated as [M2M′(O2CC6H5]n(bpa)n (bpa = 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethane, M2M′ = Zn2Co (1), Zn2Cd (2), and Co2Cd (3)), have been synthesized. All three compounds show one-dimensional structures containing linear heteronuclear coordination units linked by bridging bpa ligands. Reactivity study of the compounds 1–3 for the transesterification of a variety of esters has shown that they are very efficient and 2 is the best among them.