Three azido-, alk/phenoxido- and acetato-bridged tetranuclear nickel complexes featuring defective double-cubane

Abstract: Three new tetranuclear nickel(II) complexes of general formula [Ni4(L)2(N3)2(CH3COO)2(CH3O)2]2·xCH3OH·yH2O (HL=HL1, HL2 and HL3; x =0, y =1 for 1; x =2, y =0 for 2 and x =2, y =4 for 3) were synthesized and characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction and magnetic measurements. Single crystal X-ray studies reveal that all three complexes exhibit similar tetranuclear face-shared defective double-cubane structure, having azido-, alk/phenoxido- and acetato-bridges. Magnetic susceptibility measurements on the complexes in the range of 300–2K indicate ferromagnetic coupling between the metal ions. The slightly different magnetic behaviors observed are probably caused by subtle structural differences between the respective [Ni4O4N2] cores induced by ligand variation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]