Synthesis and reactions of N-heterocycle functionalised variants of heterometallic {CrNi} rings

Here we present a series of linked cage complexes of functionalised variants of the octametallic ring {Cr 7 Ni} with the general formula [ n Pr 2 NH 2 ][Cr 7 NiF 8 (O 2 C t Bu) 15 (O 2 CR)], where HO 2 CR is a N-heterocycle containing carboxylic acid. These compounds are made by reacting [ n Pr 2 NH 2 ][Cr 7 NiF 8 (O 2 C t Bu) 15 (O 2 CR)] with a variety of simple metal salts and metal dimers. The carboxylic acids studied include iso-nicotinic acid, 3-(4-pyridyl)acrylic acid and 4-pyridazine carboxylic acid. These new linked cage complexes have been studied structurally and the study highlights the versatility of functionalised {Cr 7 Ni} as a Lewis base ligand. As {Cr 7 Ni} is a putative molecular electron spin qubit this work contributes to our understanding of the chemistry that might be required to assemble molecular spin qubits. Here we present a series of linked cage complexes of functionalised variants of the octametallic ring {Cr 7 Ni} with the general formula [ n Pr 2 NH 2 ][Cr 7 NiF 8 (O 2 C t Bu) 15 (O 2 CR)], where HO 2 CR is a N-heterocycle containing carboxylic acid.