Structural and magnetic diversity in metal-dicyanamido polymer moieties: Paramagnetic and antiferromagnetic 1D chain compound and weakly ferromagnetic 2D motif

[M(Im)2(dca)2] (where M = Cu, Ni or Co) compounds exhibit spectacular diversity in their structural and magnetic properties. Ferromagnetic {[Cu(Im)2(μ1,3-dca)2]}n features a two-dimensional sheet type network. {[Ni(Im)2(μ1,5-dca)2]}n and {[Co(Im)2(μ1,5-dca)2]}n both have infinite chain structure and the metal ions in complex {[Co(Im)2(μ1,5-dca)2]}n are antiferromagnetically coupled, in contrast, {[Ni(Im)2(μ1,5-dca)2]}n is a simple paramagnet.