Syntheses, structure, and magnetic properties of hexanuclear Mn(III)(2)M(III)(4) (M = Y, Gd, Tb, Dy) complexes

The synthesis and characterizations of a family of isomorphous Mn(III)(2)M(III)(4)L(2)(μ(4)-O)(2)(N(3))(2)(CH(3)O)(2)(CH(3)OH)(4)(NO(3))(2)]·2H(2)O (M = Y(1), Gd(2), Tb(3), Dy(4)) are reported, where H(4)L = N,N'-dihydroxyethyl-N,N'-(2-hydroxy-4,5-dimethylbenzyl)ethylenediamine. They were obtained from the reactions of H(4)L with M(NO(3))(3)·6H(2)O, Mn(ClO(4))(2)·6H(2)O, NaN(3) and NEt(3) in a 1?:?1?:?1?:?2?:?2 molar ratio. The core structure consists of a Mn(2)M(4) unit. The four M(III) ions that are held together by two μ(4)-bridging oxygen atoms form a butterfly M(4) moiety. The M(4) core is further connected to the two five-coordinate trigonal-bipyramidal Mn(III) ions via one μ(4)-O(2-), two alkyloxo and one methoxo triple bridges. Magnetic susceptibility measurements indicate the presence of intramolecular antiferromagnetic interactions in complex 2, and overall intramolecular ferromagnetic interactions in complexes 3 and 4. The alternating current (AC) magnetic susceptibility studies revealed that complexes 3 and 4 showed frequency-dependent out-of-phase signals, which indicates that they exhibit slow relaxation of the magnetization.