Structural Diversities in Heterometallic Mn-Ca Cluster Chemistry from the Use of Salicylhydroxamic Acid: {MnCa}, {MnCa}, {MnCa}, and {MnCa} Complexes with Relevance to Both High- and Low-Valent States of the Oxygen-Evolving Complex.

One-pot reactions between the [MnO(OCPh)(py)] triangular precursors and either CaBr·xHO or CaCl·6HO, in the presence of salicylhydroxamic acid (shaH), have afforded the heterometallic complexes [MnCa(OCPh)(shi)(HO)(MeCO)] (1) and (pyH)[MnMnCaCl(OCPh)(shi)(py)] (2), respectively, in good yields. Further reactions but using a more flexible synthetic scheme comprising the Mn(NO)·4HO/Ca(NO)·4HO and Mn(OCPh)·2HO/Ca(ClO)·4HO "metal blends" and shaH, in the presence of external base NEt, led to the new complexes (NHEt)[MnMnCa(OEt)(shi)(EtOH)] (3) and (NHEt)[MnCa(CO)(shi)] (4), respectively. In all reported compounds, the anion of the tetradentate (N,O,O,O)-chelating/bridging ligand salicylhydroxime (shi), resulting from the in situ metal-ion-assisted amide-iminol tautomerism of shaH, was found to bridge both Mn and Ca atoms. Complexes 1-4 exhibit a variety of different structures, metal stoichiometries, and Mn oxidation-state descriptions; 1 possesses an overall octahedral metal arrangement, 2 can be described as a MnCa octahedron bound to an additional Mn unit, 3 consists of a Mn "ring" surrounding a Ca atom, and 4 adopts a rectangular cuboidal motif of eight Mn atoms accommodating two Ca atoms. Solid-state direct-current magnetic susceptibility studies revealed the presence of predominant antiferromagnetic exchange interactions between the Mn centers, leading to S = 0 spin ground-state values for all complexes. From a bioinorganic chemistry perspective, the reported compounds may demonstrate some relevance to both high-valent scheme (3) and lower-oxidation-level species (1, 2, and 4) of the catalytic cycle of the oxygen-evolving complex.