Synthesis, crystal structure, and fluorescence properties of several schiff-base compounds

Two new Schiff-base compounds, 1,6-bis(4-dimethylaminobenzyl)-2,5-diaza-1,5-hexadiene (bdh), 1,4-bis(4-dimethylaminobenzyl)-2,3-diaza-1,3-butadiene (bdb), and a silver complex of the latter ([Ag-2(bdb)(3)(NO3)(2)] center dot H2O, 1) have been synthesized and characterized. The crystal structure of complex 1 was determined. 1 is a dinuclear complex, with the silver ions lying in coordination tetrahedra formed by two nitrogen atoms from the bdb ligands and two oxygen atoms from the nitrate anions. The fluorescence properties of bdh and bdb were studied; the fluorescence of bdb was quenched by the addition of silver ions, indicating that it is a potential fluorescent reagent for the analysis of silver.