Ferro- and antiferromagnetic interactions in face-sharing trioctahedral Ni(II)Mn(II)Ni(II) and Ni(II)Fe(III)Ni(II) complexes with the same 1-5/2-1 spin system.

Two heterotrinuclear complexes, [Mn(II)(Ni(II)L)2].2CH3OH (where H3L = 1,1,1-tris(N-salicylideneaminomethyl)ethane) and [Fe(III)(Ni(II)L)2]NO3.C2H5OH, consisting of three face-sharing octahedra have been prepared; although these complexes have closely related structures and have the same 1-5/2-1 spin system, they show completely different magnetic interactions between the adjacent metal ions: ferromagnetic (Ni(II)-Mn(II)) and antiferromagnetic (Ni(II)-Fe(III)).