Series of Isostructural Planar Lanthanide Complexes [Ln4III(μ3-OH)2(mdeaH)2(piv)8] with Single Molecule Magnet Behavior for the Dy4 Analogue

A series of five isostructural tetranuclear lanthanide complexes of formula [Ln(4)(mu(3)-OH)(2)(mdeaH)(2)(piv)(8)], (mdeaH(2) = N-methyldiethanolamine; piv = pivalate; Ln = Tb (1), Dy (2), Ho (3), Er (4), and Tm (5)) have been synthesized and characterized. These clusters have a planar butterfly Ln(4) core. Magnetically, the Ln(III) ions are weakly coupled in all cases; the Dy-4 compound 2 shows Single Molecule Magnet (SMM) behavior.