A series of mono- and heterodinuclear complexes of type MLnH2 and MLnM′ where M = CoIII, CrIII, ZnII and M′= CuII, ZnII have been synthesized and characterized. The non-macrocyclic ligands LnH4 contain two geometrically distinct compartments, hexa- (N4O2) and tetra-dentate (O4) compartments which are bridged by phenolic oxygen atoms. The dinuclear complexes were prepared in stepwise reactions. The non-macrocyclic ligand showed a site specificity of metal ions upon the synthetic procedure. The results obtained reveals that in case of using ligand L2H4 only an isomer (trans-pyridines and cis-phenolates) among three possible geometrical isomers is formed. The metal site scrambling in the prepared complexes were not also observed in the reaction conditions used. The crystal structure of [CrIIIL2H2]ClO4 was determined and discussed.
