A new family of Mn-6 SMMs using phosphinate ligands

A new family of hexametallic [Mn-6(III)] Single-Molecule Magnets with general formula [Mn6O2(R-sao)(6)(X)(2)(MeOH)(4-6)] (R = H, Me, Et or Ph; X = O2PHPh or O2P(Ph)(2)) have been synthesised and characterised. The molecules are new members of the [Mn-6] family of SMMs in which the carboxylate ligands have been replaced with phenyl-and diphenylphosphinate. The magnetic cores remain largely unaltered meaning that structural distortions of the Mn-N-O-Mn torsion angles in the [Mn3O] subunits can be used to tune the magnetic properties, switching pairwise exchange interactions from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic. The results suggest that the Mn-6 building block, be it ferro-or antiferromagnetically coupled, could be an important building block for the formation of novel, functional 0-3D materials.