Dalton Transactions Blog

In this HOT article, Layfield and coworkers have studied the reactions of the heteroleptic lithium amide [Li₃(μ-hmds)₂(μ,μ-hpp)], where [hmds]^– =
hexamethyldisilazide and [hpp]^– = hexahydropyrimidopyrimidide, with MnCl₂, CoCl₂ or ZnBr₂ resulting in the formation of the separated ion-pairs [MLi₇(μ₈-O)(μ,μ-hpp)₆]+[A]^–, which each consists of a {MLi₇} oxo-centred cube structural motif (M = Mn, Co, Zn), with each face of the cube being bridged by an [hpp]^– ligand. The method potentially could permit access to a range of cage compounds with magnetic properties that are influenced by μ-amido ligands rather than by μ-(O-donor) ligands.

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Synthesis and structure of cationic guanidinate-bridged bimetallic {Li₇M} cubes (M = Mn, Co, Zn) with inverse crown counter anions
Daniel Woodruff, Michael Bodensteiner, Daniel O. Sells, Richard. E. P. Winpenny and Richard A. Layfield
Dalton Trans., 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C1DT10999E