Dinuclear, tetranuclear and polymeric complexes in copper(II) perchlorate/pyridine-2,6-diamidoxime chemistry: synthetic, structural and magnetic studies.

The initial use of pyridine-2,6-diamidoxime (pdamoH(2)) in metal cluster and polymer chemistry is described. Depending on the reaction conditions employed, the Cu(ClO(4))(2)·6H(2)O/pdamoH(2) system has provided access to the dinuclear compound [Cu(2)(pdamoH)(2)(ClO(4))(2)(MeOH)(2)] (1), the chain-like polymer [Cu(2)(pdamoH)(2)](n)(ClO(4))(2n) (2) and to the tetranuclear cluster [Cu(4)(pdamo)(2)(pdamoH)(2)](ClO(4))(2) (3). Single-crystal, X-ray crystallography reveals different coordination modes for the pdamoH(-) ligand in each compound, providing the first evidence for the flexibility and versatility of the anionic forms of pdamoH(2). Variable-temperature magnetic susceptibility studies indicate very strong antiferromagnetic coupling in the three complexes, attributable to the double oximato bridges which link the Cu(II) spin carriers.