First oxidative synthetic route of a novel, linear mixed valence Co(III)single bondCo(II)single bondCo(III) complex with bridging acetate and salen

A linear, trinuclear mixed valence complex [CoII{(μ-L)(μ-OAc)CoIII(NCS)}2] has been prepared and its molecular structure has been elucidated on the basis of X-ray crystallography [H2L = salen = 1,6-bis(2-hydroxyphenyl)-2,5-diazahexa-1,5-diene]. The complex contains a high-spin CoII and two terminal low-spin CoIII, i.e., it is a CoIII(S = 0)single bondCoII(S = 3/2)single bondCoIII(S = 0) trimer.