A novel tetranuclear copper(II) complex with alternating mu 1,1-azido and phenoxo bridges: synthesis, structure, and magnetic properties of [Cu4(mu-salen)2(mu 1,1-N3)2(N3)2].

A novel tetranuclear copper(II) complex containing alternating mu(1,1)-azido and monophenoxo bridges has been synthesized and characterized by spectroscopic methods, X-ray single-crystal analysis, and variable-temperature magnetic measurements. The magnetic behavior, investigated in the temperature range 2-300 K, indicates that the interactions between copper ions are antiferromagnetic in nature for both azido and phenoxo bridges. The temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility was fitted with J(1) = -12.8 cm(-1), J(2) = -10 cm(-1), g = 2.171, 2.1% paramagnetic component, and negligible temperature-independent paramagnetism (5 x 10(-8)). At variance with the earlier reports of these types of complexes containing a mu(1,1)-azido group, the end-on double-azido-bridged copper(II) center in this complex shows an antiferromagnetic interaction.