Solvothermal synthesis of high nuclearity copper and copper-lanthanide clusters based on di(pyridin-2-yl)methanone

High nuclearity Cu11(1) and Cu6Ln2 (Ln = Eu, 2; Gd, 3) cluster compounds with unusual structural features have been synthesized under solvothermal conditions based on di(pyridin-2-yl)methanone [(py)2CO] derivatives. Magnetic susceptibility measurement for 1 and 3 are consistent with the existence of anti-ferromagnetic interaction.