An antiferromagnetically coupled trinuclear Cu(II) complex containing μ(O,O′), μ(O) carboxylates and μ(O) phenoxide bridges

The trinuclear complex [L2Cu3(CF3CO2)4] (1) has been synthesized and its crystal structure determined. It consists of a linear arrangement of Cu(II) centers. The central copper atom is bonded to six oxygen atoms and has a tetragonally distorted octahedral geometry, while the terminal copper atoms are bonded to three oxygen and two nitrogen atoms and show a distorted square pyramidal geometry. The complex shows di-μ(O,O′) syn–syn carboxylate bridging as well as monoatomic (μ-O) bridging, along with phenolate (μ-O) oxygen bridging. Cryomagnetic investigations in the range 2–300 K revealed an antiferromagnetic spin exchange interaction with J = −95.7 cm−1, based on the isotropic exchange model Hex = −2J[S1 · S2 + S2 · S3].