Stepwise assembly of heterometallic aluminum oxo clusters

The aqueous solution chemistry of Al(III) is an important subject in the fields of environmental chemistry, geochemistry and coordination chemistry. However, aluminum oxo clusters were generally isolated by the onestep synthesis method. In this paper, we developed a stepwise assembly synthesis strategy and successfully prepared two heterometallic aluminum oxo clusters. [Al4(L)4(Cat)2]center dot 2[Zn(Im)4]center dot 2Im (AlOC-121, H3L = 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic acid, Cat = catechol Im = imidazole) and [Al4(L)4(Cat)2]center dot 2[Fe(Im)6]center dot 2Im (AlOC-122). Single crystal structure analysis shows that they are unprecedented structure types, where aluminum oxo cluster precursor, metal complexes and guests co-crystallizing in one structure. These compounds were fully characterized and magnetic properties were also studied.

Automated summary

A stepwise assembly synthesis strategy was developed to prepare two heterometallic aluminum oxo clusters, with unprecedented structure types. These compounds were fully characterized and their magnetic properties were studied.