Molecule-Based Magnets: Ferro- and Antiferromagnetic Interactions in Copper(II)-Polyorganosiloxanolate Clusters.

The magnetic behavior of the clusters [(PhSiO(2))(6)Cu(6)(O(2)SiPh)(6)].6EtOH (1), Na(4)[(PhSiO(2))(12)Cu(4)].8(n)()BuOH (2), and K(4)[(C(2)H(3)SiO(2))(12)Cu(4)].6(n)()BuOH (3) has been investigated by combined magnetic susceptibility measurements and variable-temperature EPR techniques (9.25 and 245 GHz). The six copper(II) ions in the core of 1, which approaches 6/mmm symmetry, are ferromagnetically coupled as a result of the geometry at the bridging siloxanolate oxygen atoms (Cu-O-Cu = 91.5-94.6 degrees; J = -42 cm(-)(1) with H = J S(i)().S(i)()(+1), S(7) = S(1)). The ground S = 3 spin state is split in zero field mainly due to anisotropic exchange contributions (D = 0.30 cm(-)(1)). Notably, both the magnitude and the sign of the zero-field splitting parameter have been determined from HF-EPR spectra. Large antiferromagnetic Cu-Cu interactions (J approximately 200 cm(-)(1)) and an S = 0 ground state have been detected in the tetranuclear clusters 2 and 3 as a consequence of the larger Cu-O-Cu angles. The results presented in the paper are relevant to the search for new molecule-based magnetic materials.