Synthesis, structure, and magnetism of heterometallic carboxylate complexes [MnIII2M(II)4O2(PhCOO)10(DMF)4], M = Mn(II), Co(II), Ni(II)

Three new homo- and heterometallic hexanuclear complexes [Mn(2)M(II)(4)O(2)(PhCOO)(10)(DMF)(4)] (with M = Mn (1), Co (2) or Ni (3) and DMF = dimethylformamide) have been synthesized by redox generation of benzoate ligands from benzaldehyde in a one-pot reaction. All of the compounds are isostructural and crystallize in the I-42d space group of the tetragonal system, data for 1: a = 27.2249(8) Angstroms, c = 25.5182(5) Angstroms, R1 = 0.0681. The crystal structure contains isolated molecules. Each molecule consists of 2 x Mn(III) surrounded by four M(II) ions to form two edge-sharing OMn(2)M(2) tetrahedra giving rise to the [Mn(2)M(4)O(2)] core. The coordination sphere of each metal is completed by the bridging benzoate ligands and DMF molecules. The magnetic susceptibilities of 1-3 have been measured in the 1.8 K < T < 300 K temperature range. The magnetic susceptibilities for 1 and 2 pass through a broad maximum at low temperature which is characteristic of the diamagnetic ground state, while for 3 no maximum is detected down to 1.8 K. The magnetic data have been interpreted quantitatively for 1 and 3 on the basis of spin exchange interactions between the metallic centers (spin Hamiltonian for a pair being H(AB) = -J(AB) S(A).S(B)). Single-crystal measurements on [Mn(6)O(2)(PhCOO)(10)(CH(3)CN)(4)] (4) show that significant magnetic anisotropy develops at low temperature.