Heterospin complexes of polynuclear NiII compounds containing hexafluoroacetylacetonate and pivalate ligands with nitroxides

The heterospin mixed-ligand complex [Ni6(OH)4Piv4(hfac)4(NIT-Ph)2] (1) (NIT-Ph is 4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-2-phenyl-4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazol-1-oxyl 3-oxide, hfac is hexafluoroacetylacetonate, and Piv is pivalate) was synthesized. The method for the synthesis of complex 1 is based on the replacement of acetone molecules in the hexanuclear complex containing the hexafluoroacetylacetonate and pivalate ligands [Ni6(OH)4Piv4(hfac)4(Me2CO)4] by NIT-Ph molecules. Two monodentate NIT-Ph molecules replace four acetone molecules, because the coordination of the O atom of the nitroxide group results in the blocking of one of the positions in the coordination environment of NiII the access to which is hindered by the phenyl ring of NIT-Ph. As a result, these ions are in a square-pyramidal environment unusual of NiII. In the low-temperature range, the dependence of the magnetization of 1 on the magnetic field is described by the Brillouin function. The reaction of [Ni6Piv4(hfac)4(OH)4(Me2CO)4] with the nitronyl nitroxide radicals 4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-2-(4-pyridyl)-4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazol-1-oxyl 3-oxide (NIT-p-Py) or 4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)-4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazol-1-oxyl 3-oxide (NIT-Iz) containing the pyridine or 1-methylimidazol-5-yl substituent, respectively, in the side chain is accompanied by the decomposition of the polynuclear fragment and affords the mononuclear complexes Ni(hfac)2(NIT-p-Py)2 and Ni(hfac)2(NIT-Iz)2, respectively. The reaction of 4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)-4,5-dihyd-ro-1H-imidazol-1-oxyl (Im-Iz), which is the imine analog of NIT-Iz, with [Ni6Piv4(hfac)4(OH)4(Me2CO)4] afforded the decanuclear complex [Ni10(OH)8Piv4(hfac)8(Im-Iz)2(H2O)6]. The molecular and crystal structures of all heterospin compounds were determined, and the magnetic properties of all compounds were investigated in the 2–300 K temperature range.