Preparation, crystal structure and characterization of a novel iron(III) oxide cluster containing two different discrete [Fe3O] units

The preparation, X-ray crystal structure, Mossbauer spectra and magnetic properties of a novel iron(III) oxide cluster have been reported. The reaction of excess trans-2-butenoic acid with FeSO4 center dot 7H(2)O in the presence of NaOH gives the novel hexanuclear complex [Fe3O(O2CCH=CH-CH3)(6)(H2O)(3)][Fe3O(O2CCH=CH-CH3)(7)(H2O)(2)](HO2CCH=CH-CH3)(4)(OH)(H2O). The X-ray analysis reveals that it is the first case that contains two different discrete trinuclear oxo-centered [Fe3O] units. The Mossbauer spectra of the complex are typical of high spin iron(III) complexes. The complex has been found to exhibit anti ferromagnetic exchange interactions between the Fe(III) ions. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.