Three complexes,[Mn
II2L
1(CH
3CO
2)
2(CH
3OH)]
2(
1),(Mn
II2L
2(CH
3CO
2)
2(CH
3OH))
2 (
2), and(Mn
II2HL
3(CH
3CO
2)
2(CH
3OH))
2(
3), wherein H
2L
1 =3-[(((2'-pyridyl)methyl)imino)methyl]benzene-1,2-diol,H
2L
2 = 3-[((2-(2'-pyridyl)ethyl)imino)methyl]benzene-1,2-diol,and H
3L
3 =3-[((2-(4'-imidazolyl)ethyl)imino)methyl]benzene-1,2-diol, have been synthesized and studied.
1crystallizes in the monoclinic system, space
group
P2
1/
c,
Z =2,
a = 11.396(1) Å,
b = 18.583(2) Å,
c = 9.888(1) Å, and
= 103.51(1)
.The structure was solved by directmethods and refined to conventional a
greement indices
R =0.028 and
Rw = 0.029. The molecularstructure of
1 consists of discrete[Mn
II2L
1(CH
3CO
2)
2(CH
3OH)]
2molecules.
1 is a chainlike bis-dinuclear Mn(II)complexinvolving an unprecedented arrangement of pentacoordinated(N
2O
3) and hexacoordinated (O
6)manganese ionsas the outer and inner pairs of metal centers, respectively. Thedifferent Mn···Mn distances result fromsignificantdifferences in bridging moieties, two catecholato bridges for theshortest distance between inner manganese ions,and one catecholato and two acetato bridges for the longer distancesbetween inner and outer manganese ions.The symmetry of the N
2O
3 donor set aroundthe outer Mn(1) is close to a trigonal bipyramid while theO
6 ligandenvironment of the inner Mn(2) can be described as a rhombicallydistorted octahedron. The synthesis, IR, EPR,and magnetic susceptibility of
1-
3 suggest asimilar bis-dinuclear structure for all three complexes.Variable-temperature magnetic susceptibility studies establish the presence ofantiferromagnetic exchange interactionsbetween Mn(II) centers of
1-
3 withpredominence of the interactions between inner and outer metal ions(-3.4to -5 cm
-1) over the interaction betweeninner manganese ions (-0.5 to 0.5 cm
-1).EPR spectroscopy indicatesthat the bis-dinuclear arrangement of complexes
1-
3 is retained in aprotic solvents. Asshown by EPR, O
2oxidation leads to the release of the constitutive Mn(II)dinuclear units, prior to formation of mononuclearMn(II)and finally Mn(III) species. Observation of two irreversibletwo-electron oxidation waves in the CV profiles of
1-
3 is consistent with a similar splitting ofthe bis-dinuclear complex molecules induced byelectrochemicaloxidation. These studies suggest that complexes resulting from thereaction of manganese with the fully oxidizedform of such electroactive ligands may afford interesting new higheroxidation-state polynuclear Mn species.