A Proton Conductive Coordination Polymer. I. [N,N′-Bis(2-hydroxyethyl)dithiooxamido]copper(II)

Abstract In a family of catena-μ-N,N′-disubstituted dithiooxamidocopper(II) complexes which have been assumed as two-dimensional coordination polymers, one complex with HOC2H4- substituents is an electronic conductor as well as others, and also a protonic conductor uniquely. The latter property was proved both by spectroscopic detection of the hydrogen molecules evolved from d.c. electrolysis of pressed pellets of the powder specimen and by observation of the anomalous increase (three orders of magnitude) of the electric conductivity as an effect of 103 Pa of H2O or D2O vapor on the dehydrated specimen in an evacuated conductivity cell. A novel conduction mechanism was suggested for such a solid system with both conjugated double bonds and extended hydrogen bonds.