A series of zinc aryloxides, [Zn4(sal‐Me)8]‧2.5(C7H8) (1), [Zn4(sal‐Me)8]‧CH2Cl2 (2), [Zn4(μ3‐OR)2(sal‐R)6] (3) (for R = Me (0.51), Et (0.49)), [Zn4(μ3‐OMe)4(sal‐Me)4(HOMe)4] (4), [Zn(sal‐Me)2(py)2]∙THF (5), {[Zn(sal‐Me)2(tmbpy)]∙2(C6H5CH3)}n (6), [Zn2(sal‐Me)2(THF)2Cl2]∙0.5(C6H5CH3) (7), and [Zn4(μ3‐OMe)2(sal‐Me)4Cl2] (8) (Hsal‐Me = methyl salicylate, py = pyridine, tmbpy = 4,4ʹ‐trimethylenedipyridine) were obtained that have different nuclearities and central core topologies and contain ligands of different basicity and coordination abilities.
Compounds 1–8 were synthesized in the reaction of Hsal‐Me with ZnEt2 in the presence or absence of additional MeOH or N‐donor ligands (py, tmbpy), as well as in the reaction of ZnCl2 and Hsal‐Me with different amounts of NaOMe in a mixture of THF/MeOH. The catalytic activity of 1–8 was tested in the syntheses of ω‐hydroxy fatty acid methyl esters by alcoholysis of pentadecanolide (PDL) and hexadecanolide (HDL). Compound 7 exhibited the highest catalytic activity in both reactions. Based on the crystal structure of 7, adding ZnCl2 to zinc aryloxides 1–6 and 8 was used as a novel approach to form enhanced‐activity molecular adducts for macrolactones alcoholysis.