The coordination modes of several ortho-substituted benzoates towards the copper(II) centre are investigated. The coordination environment of the metal ion includes nitrogen atoms from 2,2′-bipyridine (bipy) or 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) and occasionally oxygen atoms from coordinated water, ethanol molecules, or nitrate ions. The compounds are investigated by a variety of spectroscopic methods and by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Although the reaction scheme involved equimolar amounts of the reactants, cationic dinuclear compounds with a metal/benzoate/diimine ratio of 2:3:2 have been realized, cationic in nature regardless of the counter anion used. Furthermore, the carboxylate moieties display a range of twisting relative to the orientation of the benzene ring to which they are attached.
