Syntheses and Crystal Structures of a Series of Manganese-Lanthanide-Sodium 12-Metallacrown-4 Dimers

A series of heterotrimetallic manganese-lanthanide-sodium dimer metallacrowns has been synthesized and characterized by single-crystal X-ray analysis: {LnNa[12-MC_{Mn(III)N(shi)}-4]}₂(iph)₄, where Ln^III?=?La (1), Ce (2), Pr (3), Nd (4), Sm (5), Eu (6), Gd (7), Tb (8), Dy (9), Ho (10), Er (11), Tm (12), Yb (13), Lu (14), and Y (15); MC is metallacrown; shi^3? is salicylhydroximate; and iph^2? is isophthalate. The manganese(III) ions and shi^3? ligands generate the 12-MC-4 framework with one Ln^III and Na⁺ ion bound to each [12-MC_{Mn(III)N(shi)}-4] on opposite sides of the central MC cavity. The carboxylate groups of the isophthalate ligands bridge between the central Ln^III ion and each ring Mn^III ion, and the meta-arrangement of the carboxylate groups joins two LnNa[12-MC_{Mn(III)N(shi)}-4] units together to form the dimer through the Ln^III ions, which reside on the interior of the molecule. The identity of the central Ln^III ion slightly impacts the size the [12-MC_{Mn(III)N(shi)}-4] framework. As the crystal radius of the Ln^III ion increases from Lu^III (1.02 Å) to La^III (1.19 Å), the 12-MC-4 framework expands to accommodate the larger Ln^III ion as the MC cavity increases in size (0.53 Å for Lu^III to 0.58 Å for La^III) and the average cross cavity Mn^III-Mn^III and oxime oxygen-oxime oxygen distances also increase (Mn^III-Mn^III distances: 6.48 Å for Lu^III to 6.52 Å for La^III; O_oxime-O_oxime distances: 3.66 Å for Lu^III to 3.75 Å for La^III). In addition, the larger Ln^III ions reside further from the MC cavity as indicated by the Ln^III-oxime oxygen mean plane (O_oxMP) distance. The Ln^III-O_oxMP distance steadily decreases from La^III (1.7527(12) Å) to Lu^III (1.5575(15) Å).

Graphic Abstract

The complex {LaNa[12-MC_{Mn(III)N(shi)}-4]}₂(iph)₄(DMF)₆(H₂O)₂ is a dimer of [12-MC-4] molecules linked by four isophthalate anions