Polynuclear chromium(III) carboxylates. 3. Cyclic and cubane type hexachromium acetates

Heating an aqueous solution of the trinuclear ‘basic’ chromium(III) acetate led to the formation of several products which were separated by ion-exchange chromatography. Crystals of a new cyclic, hexanuclear Cr(III) compound, [Cr₆(OH)₁₀(O₂CCH₃)₆(H₂O)₄]Cl₂·13H₂O (3·Cl₂·13H₂O) were obtained upon elution of the violet complex 3 with 0.5 M NaCl and slow evaporation of the eluent. The six chromium atoms in complex 3 form an almost planar, irregular hexagon with an overall symmetry close to C_2h. By heating solid ‘basic’ chromium(III) acetate at 300 °C, followed by ion-exchange separation, a new hexanuclear complex, [Cr₆O₃(OH)(O₂CCH₃)₉(H₂O)₄]²⁺ (4) has been obtained. Complex 4 has a {Cr₆O₄} core, which consists of a {Cr₄O₄} cubane type inner core with two external chromium centers attached to μ₄-oxo(cube) ligands. A similar procedure, using ‘basic’ chromium(III) propionate led to the isolation of the dodecanuclear complex [Cr₁₂O₈(O₂CCH₂CH₃)₁₆(H₂O)₈]⁴⁺ (5) which has a {Cr₁₂O₈} core. The {Cr₆O₄} core in complex 4 can be regarded to be formed from a tetranuclear {Cr₄O₂} butterfly unit and a dinuclear {Cr₂O₂} unit. Similarly, the {Cr₁₂O₈} core in 5 can be considered to be constructed from two orthogonal {Cr₆O₄} units as in complex 4.