Nickel Complexes with N2O Donor Ligands: Syntheses, Structures, Catalysis and Magnetic Studies (Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. 32/2007)

The cover picture shows how a novel tetranuclear NiII complex [Ni4L41(μ-tp-κ4-O)(H2O)2(μ-tp-κ2-O)]·2C2H5OH·CH3OH·3H2O [L1 = N-(3-aminopropyl)-5-bromosalicylaldimine] acts as an active catalyst for the partial oxidation of cyclohexene into its epoxide product when it is immobilized over a network of hexagonal mesoporous silica. Herein the catalytic sites allow the formation of epoxide over their surfaces. tert-Butyl hydroperoxide acts as an oxidant for the partial oxidation process. A dinuclear unit is formed, in which the NiII is bridged by a phenolato group, and two such units are connected through a terephthalate moiety to form a tetranuclear nickel(II) complex. The tetranuclear units are connected to each other by another terephthalate moiety in its bis(monodentate) mode to form one-dimensional networks. Details are described in the article by P. Banerjee et al. on p. 5033 ff. The artwork was designed by Mr. Jishnunil Chakraborty and Mr. Gopal Das.