Molecular cubes with high-spin ground states

Reactions of Schiff bases with copper(II), nickel(II), iron(II) and manganese(II) sources yielded tetranuclear complexes of [Cu4(Hhsae)4]·2H2O·4CH3CN (1), [Ni4(sae)4(MeOH)4] (2), [Fe4(Hsapd)4]·2H2O·4MeOH (3) and [Mn4(sap)4(MeOH)4]·H2O (4), (H3hsae=2-(4-hydroxysalicylideneamino)-1-ethanol, H2sae=2-salicylideneamino-1-ethanol, H3sapd=2-salicylideneaminopropane-2-methyl-1,3-propanediol, and H2sap=3-salicylideneamino-1-propanol), respectively. Complexes 1-4 have cubane core structures, in which four metal ions are bridged by alkoxides. Magnetic susceptibility measurements revealed that 1-3 have high-spin ground states of S=2, 4 and 8, respectively, while 4 has a diamagnetic ground state.