Pyridylborates as a New Type of Robust Scorpionate Ligand: From Metal Complexes to Polymeric Materials

The importance of scorpionate ligands in modern coordination chemistry continues to increase, because of their outstanding versatility, tunability and user-friendliness. Herein, we provide a short overview of recent developments in the classes of scorpionate ligands, derived from pyrazoles, triazoles, imidazoles, oxazolines, thioimidazoles and other similar systems, followed by an in-depth discussion of a new type of robust and tunable scorpionate ligand, tris(2-pyridyl)borates. The structure and synthesis of tris(2-pyridyl)borate (Tpyb) ligands are discussed, and key features of coordination of Tpyb ligands with metal ions, as well as supramolecular crystal packing, transmetallation and applications in metallo-supramolecular polymer chemistry are addressed.