A [Mn] Defective Supertetrahedron T3 and Its Dimeric [Mn] Analogue.

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