Bis[4-chloro-2-(quinolin-8-yliminomethyl) phenolato-kappa(3) N,N ',O]cobalt(III)trichloridomethanolcobaltate(II)

The reaction of 4-chloro-2-(quinolin-8-yliminomethyl) phenol (HClQP) with cobalt(II) dichloride hexahydrate in methanol/chloroform under solvothermal conditions yielded the title compound, [Co(C16H10ClN2O)(2)][CoCl3(CH3OH)]. The Co-III atom is six-coordinated in a slightly distorted octahedral geometry by four N atoms and two O atoms of two tridentate HClQP ligands, which are nearly perpendicular to each other, making a dihedral angle of 86.95 degrees. The Co-II atom is four-coordinated by three Cl atoms and one O atom from a methanol ligand in a distorted tetrahedral geometry. The crystal packing is consolidated by intermolecular O-H center dot center dot center dot Cl, C-H center dot center dot center dot Cl and C-H center dot center dot center dot O hydrogen bonds, forming a three-dimensional supramolecular structure, in which [(CoCl3-)-Cl-II(CH3OH)] anions are connected via O-H center dot center dot center dot Cl and C-H center dot center dot center dot Cl hydrogen bonds into centrosymmetric dimers. Neighboring cobalt(III) complexes form dimers through C-H center dot center dot center dot O hydrogen bonds, as well as pi-pi stacking [centroid-centroid distances = 3.30 (2) angstrom] between the planar quinoline systems of one HClQP ligand and the phenolate ring of another.