Magnetic ordering in two molecule-based (10,3)-a nets prepared from a copper(II) trinuclear secondary building unit.

Two new molecule-based materials of formulas 3D-{K(H(2)O)(6)K(18-crown-6)[MnCu(3)(Hmesox)(3)].5.25H(2)O} (1) and 3D-{(Ph(4)P)(2)[MnCu(3)(Hmesox)(3)Cl].3.5H(2)O} (2) have been prepared from a tricopper(II) secondary building unit (SBU), Cu(3)(Hmesox)(3) (H(4)mesox = mesoxalic acid, 2-dihydroxymalonic acid). Compound 1 is obtained by means of the reaction of the SBU with manganese(II) acetate in the presence of potassium cations and the 18-crown-6 ether, whereas compound 2 is obtained by means of the reaction of the SBU with manganese(II) acetate in the presence of Ph(4)PCl. The MnCu(3)(Hmesox)(3) and MnCu(3)(Hmesox)(3)Cl moieties in compounds 1 and 2, respectively, yield chiral 3-connected three-dimensional (3D) anionic (10,3)-a (srs, SrSi(2)) nets. In the cubic and centrosymmetric structures (Pa3) of 1, two inversion-symmetry-related anion nets interpenetrate to a racemic structure. The Ph(4)P(+) cations in 2 are organized in a supramolecular (10,3)-a net through the 6-fold phenyl embrace. In 2, both the cationic and anionic nets are homochiral and enantiopure with opposite handedness and form interpenetrating supramolecular and covalent (10,3)-a nets in the noncentrosymmetric Sohncke space group P 2(1)2(1)2(1). Both compounds display ferrimagnetic interaction with long-range magnetic ordering below 2.5 and 15.2 K for 1 and 2, respectively. A dehydrated phase of 2 exhibits a T(c) of 21.8 K. The saturation of magnetization, M(S), indicates two different ground states, S = (1)/(2) and (3)/(2), for the tricopper(II) units in 1 and 2, respectively. The different spin states of the tricopper(II) unit in 1 and 2 has been explained by means of a density functional theory (DFT) study performed in the Cu(3)(Hmesox)(3) and Cu(3)(Hmesox)(3)Cl fragments, for 1 and 2, respectively. A further DFT study has allowed one to analyze the structural parameters that lead to the different spin ground states for the trinuclear units in both compounds.