Construction of copper(II)–dysprosium(III)–iron(III) trinuclear cluster based on Schiff base ligand: Synthesis, structure and magnetism

Heterobimetallic 3d-4f complexes supported by a Schiff-base tripodal ligand

Complexes featuring multiple metal centres are of growing interest regarding metal-metal cooperation and its tuneability. Here the synthesis and characterisation of heterobimetallic complexes of a 3d metal (4: Mn, 5: Co) and lanthanum supported by a (1,1,1-tris[(3-methoxysalicylideneamino)methyl]ethane) ligand is reported, as well as discussion of their electronic structure via electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, electrochemical experiments and computational studies. Competitive binding experiments of the ligand and various metal salts unequivocally demonstrate that in these heterobimetallic complexes the 3d metal (Mn, Co) selectively occupies the κ6-N3O3 binding site of the ligand, whilst La occupies the κ6-O6 metal binding site in line with their relative oxophilicities. EPR spectroscopy supported by density functional theory analysis indicates that the 3d metal is high spin in both cases (S = 5/2 (Mn), 3/2 (Co)). Cyclic voltammetry studies on the Mn/La and Co/La bimetallic complexes revealed a quasi-reversible Mn2+/3+ redox process and poorly-defined irreversible oxidation events respectively.

Compartmentalization of Alkaline-Earth Metals in Salen-Type Cu- and Ni-Complexes in Solution and in the Solid State

The precise arrangement of metal ions in type and number by a ligand represents an important challenge in biology as well as in materials science. The preorganization of different metal ions such as alkaline-earth and transition-metal ions is of particular interest for the design of catalysts or precursors of oxides. This study is based on a Ω-shaped salen-derived ligand comprising N2O2 and O2O2 coordination sites. The selective binding of Cu(II) and Ni(II) and alkaline-earth-metal ions is influenced by many factors such as the size of the cation, the solvent, or the counterion. UV-vis and 1H NMR titrations and single-crystal X-ray structures reveal that the obtained complexes tend to adopt different structures in solution compared to the solid state. Mainly discrete motifs with a stoichiometry 1:1 (LM1 to alkaline-earth-metal ions) have been shown to form in the solid state, whereas in solution, the 2:1 complexes are predominant.

Polymorphism of the dinuclear CoIII-Schiff base complex [Co2(o-van-en)3]·4CH3CN (o-van-en is a salen-type ligand)

Reactions of Co(OH)2 with the Schiff base bis(2-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzylidene)ethylenediamine, denoted H2(o-van-en), under different conditions yielded the previously reported complex aqua[bis(3-methoxy-2-oxidobenzylidene)ethylenediamine]cobalt(II), [Co(C18H18N2O4)(H2O)], 1, under anaerobic conditions and two polymorphs of [μ-bis(3-methoxy-2-oxidobenzylidene)ethylenediamine]bis{[bis(3-methoxy-2-oxidobenzylidene)ethylenediamine]cobalt(III)} acetonitrile tetrasolvate, [Co2(C18H18N2O4)3]·4CH3CN, i.e. monoclinic 2 and triclinic 3, in the presence of air. Both novel polymorphs were chemically and spectroscopically characterized. Their crystal structures are built up of centrosymmetric dinuclear [Co2(o-van-en)3] complex molecules, in which each CoIII atom is coordinated by one tetradentate dianionic o-van-en ligand in an uncommon bent fashion. The pseudo-octahedral coordination of the CoIII atom is completed by one phenolate O and one amidic N atom of the same arm of the bridging o-van-en ligand. In addition, the asymmetric units of both polymorphs contain two acetonitrile solvent molecules. The polymorphs differ in the packing orders of the dinuclear [Co2(o-van-en)3] complex molecules, i.e. alternating ABABAB in 2 and AAA in 3. In addition, differences in the conformations, the positions of the acetonitrile solvent molecules and the pattern of intermolecular interactions were observed. Hirshfeld surface analysis permits a qualitative inspection of the differences in the intermolecular space in the two polymorphs. A knowledge-based study employing Full Interaction Maps was used to elucidate possible reasons for the polymorphism.

A new co-crystal dinuclear/trinuclear ZnII-ZnII/ZnII-SmIII-ZnII complex with a salen-type Schiff base ligand

In the penta-nuclear title complex, [SmZn2(C22H18N2O4)2(NCS)2(C3H7NO)2][Zn2(C22H18N2O4)(NCS)3]·C3H7NO·0.32H2O, namely bis-{μ2-6,6'-dimeth-oxy-2,2'-[phenyl-ene-1,2-diylbis(nitrilo-methanylyl-idene)]diphenolato}-1κ4 O,N,N',O':2κ3 O,O',O 6;2κ3 O,O',O 6:3κ4 O,N,N',O'-bis-(di-methyl-formamide-2κO)di-thiocyanato-1κN,3κN-2-samarium(III)-1,3-dizinc(II) {μ2-6,6'-dimeth-oxy-2,2'-[phenyl-ene-1,2-diylbis(nitrilo-methanylyl-idene)]diphenolato-1κ4 O,N,N',O':2κ2 O,O'}trithio-cyan-ato-1κN;2κ2 N,N-dizinc(II) di-methyl-formamide monosolvate 1.32-hydrate, a dinuclear unit and a trinuclear unit co-exist. One of the ZnII centers in the dinuclear unit as well as the two ZnII centers in the trinuclear unit are located in the inner N2O2 cavity of the ligand and are coordinated to the nitro-gen atom of one thio-cyanate moiety, giving rise to a square-pyramidal geometry. The second ZnII center in the dinuclear unit is coordinated to the two phenolate oxygen atoms of the ligand and to two thio-cyanate groups via the nitro-gen atom in a tetra-hedral geometry. The SmIII ion is eight-coordinated by four phenolate O atoms from the two ligand mol-ecules, two meth-oxy O atoms from the two ligand mol-ecules and two O atoms from the DFM solvent mol-ecule. In the dinuclear unit, the two meth-oxy oxygen atoms remain uncoordinated while in the trinuclear unit, for each ligand one meth-oxy oxygen is coordinated and the other one remains uncoordinated. In the crystal, the trinuclear cationic units and dinuclear anionic units are assembled into infinite layers. These layers are held together via electrostatic inter-actions, forming a three-dimensional structure. In the dinuclear unit, the C and S atoms of one of the thio-cyanate groups are disordered over two sets of sites in a 0.680 (4)(4):0.320 (4) ratio.

Heterotrimetallic complexes in molecular magnetism

The most representative examples of coordination compounds containing three different paramagnetic metal ions are reviewed, with a special emphasis on their magnetic properties.