Reactions between the antitumor agent titanocene dichloride (Cp
2TiCl
2) and the hexadentate ligand
N,
N'-ethylenebis(
o-hydroxyphenylglycine) (H
4ehpg) have been investigated in aqueous solution and the solid state. The racemicligands give crystals of the monomer
[Ti(ehpg)(H
2O
)]·(11/3)H
2O
(1), while the
meso ligand gives the oxo-bridgeddimer [{Ti(Hehpg)(H
2O)}
2O]·13H
2O
(2). Complex
1 crystallizes in the monoclinic space group
C2/
c with
a =24.149(4) Å,
b = 14.143(3) Å,
c = 19.487(3) Å,
![](/images/gifchars/beta2.gif)
= 105.371(13)
![](/images/entities/deg.gif)
,
V = 6417.7(19) Å
3,
Z = 12, and
R(F) =0.0499 for 4428 independent reflections having
I > 2
![](/images/gifchars/sigma.gif)
(
I), and contains seven-coordinate pentagonal-bipyramidalTi
IV with two axial phenolate ligands (Ti-O, 1.869(2) Å). The pentagonal plane contains the two N-atoms at2.210(2) Å, two carboxylate O-atoms at 2.061(2) Å, and a water molecule (Ti-OH
2, 2.091(3) Å). Complex
2crystallizes as an oxygen-bridged dimer in the triclinic space group
P-1 with
a = 12.521(6) Å,
b = 14.085(7) Å,
c = 16.635(8) Å,
![](/images/gifchars/alpha.gif)
= 80.93(2)
![](/images/entities/deg.gif)
,
![](/images/gifchars/beta2.gif)
= 69.23(2)
![](/images/entities/deg.gif)
,
![](/images/gifchars/gamma.gif)
= 64.33(2)
![](/images/entities/deg.gif)
,
V = 2472(2) Å
3,
Z = 4, and
R(F) = 0.0580 for5956 independent reflections having
I > 2
![](/images/gifchars/sigma.gif)
(
I). Each seven-coordinate, pentagonal-bipyramidal Ti
IV has a bridgingoxide and a phenolate as axial ligands. The pentagonal plane donors are H
2O, two carboxylate O-atoms, and twoNH groups, which form H-bonds to O-atoms both in the same half-molecule (O···N, 2.93-3.13 Å) and in theother half-molecule (O···N, 2.73-2.75 Å); the second phenoxyl group of each Hehpg ligand is protonated andnot coordinated to Ti
IV, but H-bonds to a nearby amine proton (O···N, 2.73-2.75 Å) from the same ligand andto a nearby H
2O (O···O, 2.68 Å). In contrast to all previously reported crystalline metal-EHPG complexescontaining racemic ligands, in which the N(
S,S)C(
R,R) or N(
R,R)C(
S,S) form is present, complex
1 unexpectedlycontains the N(
S,S)C(
S,S) and N(
R,R)C(
R,R) forms. This is attributed to the presence of ring strain in seven-coordinate Ti
IV complexes. Moreover, the
rac ligands selectively form crystals of monomeric
1, while the
mesoligand selectively forms crystals of the dimer
2 (N(
R,R)C(
R,S) or N(
S,S)C(
S,R)). Complexes
1 and
2 exhibitphenolate-to-Ti
IV charge-transfer bands near 387 nm, and 2D NMR studies indicate that the structures of
1 and
2 in solution are similar to those in the solid state. Complex
1 is stable over the pH range 1.0-7.0, while
2 isstable only between pH 2.5 and pH 5.5. Cp
2TiCl
2 reacts with EHPG at pH
* 7.0 to give complex
1 with a
t1/2 ofca. 50 min (298 K), but complex
2 was not formed at this pH
* value. At pH
* 3.7, the reaction is very slow:
1forms with a half-life of ca. 2.5 d, and
2 after ca. 1 week at ambient temperature. The relevance of these data tothe possible role of serum transferrin as a mediator for the delivery of Ti
IV to tumor cells is discussed.