Cluster synthesis via ligand-arrested solid growth: triethylphosphine-capped fragments of binary metal chalcogenides.

A new and potentially highly generalizable technique for synthesizing molecular fragments of binary solids is demonstrated through application to selected transition metal chalcogenides. Employing a metal atom reactor, the solids are evaporated with a tungsten heating boat, and the resulting vapor is co-condensed with triethylphosphine. Major cluster products identified from a survey of first-row transition metal sulfides include the known species Cr6S8(PEt3)6, Co6S8(PEt3)6, and Cu12S6(PEt3)8, as well as the unprecedented species Fe4S4(PBun3)4, Ni4S4(PEt3)8, and Cu6S4(PEt3)4.

A cyano-bridged single-molecule magnet: slow magnetic relaxation in a trigonal prismatic MnMo(6)(CN)(18) cluster.

We report the synthesis of the first well-documented example of a cyano-bridged single-molecule magnet. An assembly reaction parallel to that employed in producing the trigonal prismatic [(Me(3)tacn)(6)MnCr(6)(CN)(18)](2+) (Me(3)tacn = N,N',N"-trimethyl-1,4,7-triazacyclononane) cluster affords K[(Me(3)tacn)(6)MnMo(6)(CN)(18)](ClO(4))(3) (1), containing an analogous molybdenum(III)-substituted cluster. Fits to the DC magnetic susceptibility and magnetization data for 1 show that the MnMo(6) cluster possesses weak antiferromagnetic coupling (J = -6.