The employment of the fluorescent bridging and chelating ligand N-naphthalidene-2-amino-5-chlorobenzoic acid (nacbH2) in Ni(II) cluster chemistry has led to a series of pentanuclear and hexanuclear compounds with different structural motifs, magnetic and optical properties, as well as an interesting 1-D coordination polymer. Synthetic parameters such as the inorganic anion present in the NiX2 starting materials (X = ClO4(-) or Cl(-)), the reaction solvent and the nature of the organic base employed for the deprotonation of nacbH2 were proved to be structure-directing components. Undoubtedly, the reported results demonstrate the rich coordination chemistry of nacbH2 in the presence of Ni(II) metal ions and the ability of this chelate to adopt a variety of different modes, thus fostering the formation of high-nuclearity molecules with many physical properties.

The initial employment of the fluorescent bridging ligand N-naphthalidene-2-amino-5-chlorobenzoic acid (nacbH2) in metal cluster chemistry has led to new Ni12 (1) and Ni5 (2) clusters with wheel-like and molecular-chain topologies, respectively. The doubly-deprotonated nacb(2-) ligands were found to adopt four different coordination modes within 1 and 2. The nature of the ligand has also allowed unexpected organic transformations to occur and ferromagnetic and emission behaviors to emerge. The combined work demonstrates the ability of some "ligands-with-benefits" to yield beautiful structures with exciting topologies and interesting physicochemical properties.