The use of the substituted benzotriazole ligand btaOH (1-hydroxybenzotriazole) in copper(II) chemistry has yieldeda structurally and magnetically very interesting complex. The [Cu
2(O
2CMe)
4(H
2O)
2]/btaOH·H
2O/aqueous NH
3(1:4:4, 1:3:3, 1:2:2) reaction system in MeOH gives dark brown-green [Cu(btaO)
2(MeOH)]
n (
4) in ~80% yield.
4 crystallizes in the tetragonal space group
P4
32
12 with (at 25
![](/images/entities/deg.gif)
C)
a = 9.915(1) Å,
b = 9.915(1) Å,
c = 14.715(2) Å, and
Z = 4. The structure consists of a 3D, diamond-like copper(II) lattice. The Cu
II atom has a squarepyramidal geometry with four btaO
- ligands at the basal plane. The btaO
- ion functions as a bidentate bridgingligand, with N(3) and the deprotonated oxygen being the ligating atoms. Dc and ac magnetic susceptibilitymeasurements, together with low-field (10 G) and high-field (up to 5000 G) magnetization data, are consistentwith ferromagnetic interactions on the scale of the crystal lattice with two critical temperatures: 6.4 and 4.4 K.The former critical temperature could correspond to a transition from a paramagnetic to a ferromagnetic state; thelatter one, to a transition from a ferromagnetically ordered state to its 3D ordering. The magnetic data, along withthe field dependence of the magnetization and the EPR data, are also in line with a soft magnet. Moreover, theEPR studies performed on
4 reveal unique features reported for the first time in the field of molecular magnetism.