The 1
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            3-dipolar cycloaddition “click” reaction between an azide and an alkyne to give a 1
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            2
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            3-triazole was reported by Huisgen in 1961 [1]. In 2002 the Copper(I)-catalyzed Azide-Alkyne Cycloaddition (CuAAC) to prepare a 1
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            2
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            3-triazole was reported [2]
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            [3]. The existence of relatively basic nitrogen atoms in the 1
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            2
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            3-triazole rings
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            and the possibility of introducing additional donor groups in the substituents (Fig. 1)
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            made the CuAAC “click” reaction an attractive method to prepare differently substituted 1
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            2
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            3-triazoles. These compounds have been used as ligands to coordinate to various metal ions that display a range of applications such as in electrochemical and photochemical studies
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            in supramolecular chemistry
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            magnetism
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            metal-ion sensing and catalysis [4]. The reasons for the success of the “click” reaction
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            is that it is easy to carry out and is widely applicable. It is not affected by a variety of functional groups
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            and can be carried out with a variety of Cu(I) catalysts and solvents
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            including aqueous conditions. The Cu(I) catalysts overcome the high activation energy barrier of the non-catalyzed Huisgen reaction by changing the mechanism of the reaction. A large variety of copper catalysts can be used for the CuAAC reaction
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            on condition that the maximum concentration of Cu(I) species is generated during the reaction. The pre-catalyst can be a Cu(II) salt (usually CuSO4) together with a reducing agent (often sodium ascorbate) or a Cu(I) compound in the presence of a base or amine ligand and a reducing agent to prevent oxidation to Cu(II). Some strong oxidising cupric salts or complexes such as Cu(OAc)2 also work. The solvent is very flexible from organic to aqueous
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            with the most commonly used combination water + an alcohol (t-BuOH
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            MeOH or EtOH). The key role of the solvent or solvent mixture is to solubilize the substrates and Cu(I) catalyst in order to ensure rapid reactions. Such aqueous conditions are very useful for biochemical conjugations
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            as well as for organic syntheses.
We recently reported on the synthesis of a series of differently substituted 1
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            2
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            3-triazole chromophores
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            the substituted 2-(1-phenyl-1H-1
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            2
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            3-triazol-4-yl)pyridine ligands [5]
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            see Fig. 2 middle
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            with substituents R = H (L1)
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            CH3 (L2)
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            OCH3 (L3)
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            COOH
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            F
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            Cl
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            CN
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            CF3
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            O(CH2)3CH3 and N(CH3)2. These versatile ligands were found to coordinate to various first row transition metals
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            such as manganese
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            cobalt and nickel [6]. Here we extend the series to include more first row transition metal(II) coordination compounds
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            iron
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            copper and zinc
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            as well as a second row transition metal(II) coordination compound
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            cadmium
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            containing the 2-(1-(4-methyl-phenyl)-1H-1
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            2
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            3-triazol-1-yl)pyridine chromophore (Fig. 2 right with R = CH3). This series of seven novel coordination compounds is the first series of pyridyl-triazole based transition metal coordination compounds where seven different transition metals are coordinated to the same 1
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            2
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            3-triazole chromophore
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            namely 2-(1-(4-methyl-phenyl)-1H-1
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            2
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                            3-triazol-1-yl)pyridine.
                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                         
                                                                        
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