A Cu-Zn-Cu-Zn heterometallomacrocycle shows significant antiferromagnetic coupling between paramagnetic centres mediated by diamagnetic metal

An unprecedented antiferromagnetic exchange mediated by two -O-Zn-O- bridges, with singlet-triplet splitting J= 35.0 cm-1, was observed between two copper centers separated by 5.7062(9)A in the heterometallomacrocyclic diethanolamine (H2L) complex [Cu2Zn2(NH3)2Br2(HL)4]Br2.CH3OH.     

Assembling novel heterotrimetallic Cu/Co/Ni and Cu/Co/Cd cores supported by diethanolamine ligand in one-pot reactions of zerovalent copper with metal salts

The three novel heterotrimetallic complexes [Ni(H2L)2][CoCu(L)2(H2L)(NCS)]2(NCS)2 (1), [Ni(H2L)2][CuCo(L)2(H2L)(NCS)]2Br2.2H2O (2), and [CuCoCd(H2L)2(L)2(NCS)Br2].CH3OH (3) have been prepared using zerovalent copper; cobalt thiocyanate; nickel thiocyanate (1), nickel bromide (2), or cadmium bromide (3); and methanol solutions of diethanolamine in air. The most prominent feature of the structures of 1 and 2 is the formation of the "pentanuclear"aggregate [[Ni(H2L)2][CoCu(L)2(H2L)(NCS)]2]2+ made up of two neutral [CoCu(L)2(H2L)(NCS)] units and the previously unknown cation [Ni(H2L)2]2+ "glued together" by strong complementary hydrogen bonds. With Cd2+ instead of Ni2+, a different structure is obtained: the [CoCu(L)2(H2L)(NCS)] unit is now linked to the Cd center through coordination of the oxygens of L groups on the Co atom to form the discrete heterotrimetallic molecular species 3. Cryomagnetic measurements of the compounds show that, in all cases, the magnetic behavior is paramagnetic; the polycrystalline EPR spectra contain signals due to monomeric copper species only. At the same time, the EPR spectra of frozen DMF and methanol solutions of 1-3 reveal the presence of triplet-state species that can be generated only by a coupling of the Cu2+ centers within a dimer. The species responsible for the appearance of transitions within the triplet state are thought to be Cu(II) dimeric centers formed by aggregation of two [CuCo(H2L)(L)2] fragments of 1-3 present in solution. The residual monomeric spectra in the g approximately 2 region are indicative of the existence of an equilibrium in solution between the dimeric and monomeric Cu(II) centers in aggregated and free [CuCo(H2L)(L)2] fragments, respectively, with varying degrees of stability. The fragmentation process of 1-3 in solution was screened by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.     

Direct synthesis of heterometallic complexes

The idea of direct synthesis of coordination compounds – use of elemental metals or their oxides as starting material – has been developed to synthesize heterometallic compounds. The advantages of this approach in obtaining polynuclear, mixed-anion and mixed-valence coordination compounds are shown, taking complexes with aminoalcohols as examples. The preparation of heterobimetallic Cu/M (Pb, Zn, Co) complexes with aminoalcohols using zerovalent copper as a starting material is presented. The main principles for the formation of heterobimetallic complexes and the most interesting crystal structures are briefly reviewed.     

Ab initio calculations of the atomic and electronic structure of MgF<Subscript>2</Subscript> (011) and (111) surfaces

The results of ab initio slab calculations of surface relaxations, rumplings and charge distribution for the different terminations of the MgF₂ (011) and (111) polar surfaces are presented and discussed. We have employed the computer code CRYSTAL with the Gaussian basis set and the hybrid B3PW exchange-correlation functional. Despite the ionic nature of the chemical bonding at both surfaces, a considerable decrease of the optical band gap is predicted (1.3 eV or 10%) for the (111) surface as compared to the bulk.     

High-frequency, high-field EPR; magnetic susceptibility; and X-ray studies on a ferromagnetic heterometallic complex of diethanolamine (H2L), [Cu4(NH3)4(HL)4][CdBr4]Br2.3dmf.H2O

The novel heterometallic complex [Cu(4)(NH(3))(4)(HL)(4)][CdBr(4)]Br(2).3dmf.H(2)O has been prepared in the reaction of zerovalent copper with cadmium oxide in the air-exposed solution of ammonium bromide and diethanolamine (H(2)L) in dimethylformamide (dmf). The compound is monoclinic, with space group P2(1)/c, a = 14.876(3) A, b = 33.018(6) A, c = 11.437(2) A, beta = 108.182(3)(o), and Z = 4. The crystal lattice consists of [Cu(4)(NH(3))(4)(HL)(4)](4+) cations, [CdBr(4)](2)(-), Br(-) anions, and uncoordinated dmf and water molecules. In the cation, four independent Cu atoms occupy vertexes of a distorted tetrahedron with bridged Cu...Cu distances in the range 3.127(2)-3.333(3) A and other Cu...Cu separations being 3.445(3)-3.503(2) A. The magnetic susceptibility and the EPR spectra were measured over the temperature ranges 1.8-300 and 3-300 K, respectively. The magnetic moment was found to increase with decreasing temperature to reach a maximum of 2.60 muB per one copper atom at ca. 10 K and was found, subsequently, to diminish slightly at lower temperatures owing to zero-field and Zeeman splitting of the S = 2 ground state. The temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility was fitted to the spin Hamiltonian H = J(ab)S(a)S(b) + J(bc)S(b)S(c) + J(cd)S(c)S(d) + J(ad)S(a)S(d) + J(ac)S(a)S(c) + J(bd)S(b)S(d) with the exchange integrals J(ab) = J(bc) = J(cd) = J(ad) = -65(3) cm(-1) and J(ac) = J(bd) = +1(3) cm(-1). High-field, high-frequency (95-380 GHz) EPR spectra due to an S = 2 ground state were simulated with g(x) = 2.138(1), g(y)) = 2.142(1), g(z) = 2.067(1), D = -0.3529(3) cm(-1), and E = -0.0469(8) cm(-1). Calculations based on the X-ray structure indicate a negligible contribution of the magnetic dipole-dipole interactions to the zfs parameters D and E. A discussion of the isotropic and anisotropic exchange interactions and their effect on the zfs parameters is also given.