A Mn8 Defective Supertetrahedron T3 and Its Dimeric Mn16 Analogue

The initial use of 2-(pyridin-2-yl)propane-1,3-diol (pypdH2) in Mn cluster chemistry has afforded two new mixed-valence polynuclear Mn clusters, namely, [Mn8Ο5(pypd)(hmp)3(O2CCMe3)8] (1) and [Mn16Ο10(N3)2(pypd)2{(py)2CO2}4(O2CEt)12] (2) (hmp- = deprotonated 2-hydroxymethylpyridine; (py)2CO2 2- = deprotonated gem-diol form of di-2-pyridyl ketone). Compound 1 features a novel [MnIII 7MnII(μ4-O)2(μ3-O)3(μ-OR)5]8+ structural core resembling a supertetrahedron T3, lacking two apexes, while complex 2 has a [MnIII 14MnII 2(μ4-O)4(μ3-O)6(μ-N3)2(μ3-OR)2(μ-OR)8]14+ core consisting of two [Mn8] subunits related to 1 and thus is a dimeric analogue of 1. Direct current (dc) magnetic susceptibility studies revealed the presence of dominant antiferromagentic exchange interactions between the Mn ions in complexes 1 and 2 and small ground state spin values for both compounds. Overall, this work highlights the capability of polyol-like chelates like pypdH2 to stabilize high nuclearity 3d metal clusters based on polynuclear building blocks.The initial use of 2-(pyridin-2-yl)propane-1,3-diol (pypdH2) in Mn cluster chemistry has afforded two new mixed-valence polynuclear Mn clusters, namely, [Mn8Ο5(pypd)(hmp)3(O2CCMe3)8] (1) and [Mn16Ο10(N3)2(pypd)2{(py)2CO2}4(O2CEt)12] (2) (hmp- = deprotonated 2-hydroxymethylpyridine; (py)2CO2 2- = deprotonated gem-diol form of di-2-pyridyl ketone). Compound 1 features a novel [MnIII 7MnII(μ4-O)2(μ3-O)3(μ-OR)5]8+ structural core resembling a supertetrahedron T3, lacking two apexes, while complex 2 has a [MnIII 14MnII 2(μ4-O)4(μ3-O)6(μ-N3)2(μ3-OR)2(μ-OR)8]14+ core consisting of two [Mn8] subunits related to 1 and thus is a dimeric analogue of 1. Direct current (dc) magnetic susceptibility studies revealed the presence of dominant antiferromagentic exchange interactions between the Mn ions in complexes 1 and 2 and small ground state spin values for both compounds. Overall, this work highlights the capability of polyol-like chelates like pypdH2 to stabilize high nuclearity 3d metal clusters based on polynuclear building blocks.