Sonochemical synthesis and characterization of new seven coordinated zinc, cadmium and mercury nitrate complexes: New precursors for nanostructure metal oxides.

The nitrate complexes of group 12 elements with a tridentate Schiff base ligand (L = (E)-N1-((E)-3- phenylallylidene)-N2-(2-((E)-((E)-3-phenylallylidene) amino)ethyl) ethane-1,2-diamine) were synthesized via sonochemical process and characterized by various physical and chemical methods. The structural analysis of the zinc nitrate complex by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis shows that the central atom is seven-coordinated by three nitrogen atoms from the Schiff base ligand as well as four oxygen atoms from two different nitrate anions. The geometry around the metal center can be described as a distorted pentagonal bipyramid. The crystal packing analysis of zinc nitrate complex indicates that the intermolecular interactions related to nitrate groups plays the essential role in the orientation of supramolecular structure. Hirshfeld surfaces (HS) and their corresponding fingerprint plots (FP) have been also used for further investigation of crystal structure of zinc nitrate complex. Furthermore thermal analyses (TG/DTG) of three nanostructure complexes were carried out and discussed. Finally, direct thermolysis of zinc and cadmium nitrate complexes in air atmosphere led to the production of zinc and cadmium oxide nanoparticles.