Doubly phenoxo-hydroxo-bridged dicopper(II) complexes: individual contributions of the bridges to antiferromagnetic coupling based on two related biomimetic models for catechol oxidases.

This paper describes the synthesis, structure and spectroscopic and magnetic properties of two (μ-phenoxo)(μ-hydroxo)dicopper(II) complexes (1 and 2) which contain similar N,O-donor atoms but with distinct coordination arrangements around the Cu(II) centers. Structural and magnetic studies of 1 and 2 allowed us to evaluate, for the first time, the individual contributions of the {Cu(μ-phenoxo)Cu} and {Cu(μ-hydroxo)Cu} structural units to the antiferromagnetic coupling between the Cu(II) centers in these complexes.