Solvothermal synthesis of chromium(III) complexes with the ‘Bis–tris’ ligand

In methanol under solvothermal conditions, we show how the nuclearity of the complex can be tuned from a monomer [CrIII(H3L)Cl] (1) to a tetramer [CrIII4(H2L)4] (2) with an unusual twisted {M4O4} core topology {Bis–tris, H5L = (HOCH2CH2)2NC(CH2OH)3}. The magnetic data for 2 can be fitted to a simple 1J model with J = − 20.25(5) cm− 1.