Trinuclear copper(II) complexes of bis(acylhydrazone) ligands. Structural analysis and magnetic properties of a sulfato-bridged hexanuclear dimer

The synthesis and spectroscopic characterization of the new symmetric, ligand bis(salicylaldehyde)methyliminodiacetylhydrazone (H₄MeImds) is reported. The reactions of H₄ MeImds with copper(II) chloride, nitrate and sulfate give trinuclear metal complexes of formula Cu₃(MeImds)Cl₂ · CHCl₃ · H₂O, Cu₃(MeImds)(NO₃)₂ · 2H₂O and Cu₃(MeImds)(SO₄) · 8H₂O; the trinuclear species are obtained in spite of the used metal:ligand molar ratio. The X-ray crystal structure of [Cu₃(MeImds)(SO₄)(H₂O)₃] · 5H₂O is determined; it consists of linear units, with the nonadentate ligand bound to three copper ions. The trimetallic units are bridged via sulfate anions to give hexanuclear dimers with an imposed centre of symmetry. The magnetic properties of [Cu₃(MeImds)(SO₄)(H₂O)₃] · 5H₂O are characterized by a significant antiferromagnetic coupling within the trimetallic units and by a weak antiferromagnetic coupling between them. The analogous trinuclear copper(II) complexes Cu₃(HImds)Cl₂ · H₂O and Cu₃(HImds)(SO₄) · 4H₂O (H₅Imds, bis(salicylaldehyde)iminodiacetylhydrazone) were also prepared and spectroscopically characterized.