High-Nuclearity Chiral 3 d-4 f Heterometallic Clusters Ln6Cu24 and Ln6Cu12.

Based on the anion template and chiral ligand inducting role, two series of high-nuclearity 3 d-4 f heterometallic clusters with formulas [NO3@Ln6Cu24(μ3-OH)30(μ2-OH)3(OAc)6( R/ S-L)12(H2O)24](NO3)14· x(H2O) (Ln = Dy, x = 30 for 1a( R-L) and 1b( S-L); Ln = Tb, x = 40 for 2a( R-L) and 2b( S-L)) and (Et3NH)4[Ln6Cu12(μ3-OH)14(μ2-Cl)6Cl12( R/ S-L)12]Cl2· x(H2O) (Ln = Dy, x = 28 for 3a( R-L) and 3b( S-L); Ln = Tb, x = 33 for 4a ( R-L) and 4b( S-L); HL = ( R/ S)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline-3-carboxylic acid), have been synthesized and characterized. Structural analysis reveals that the metal skeleton of compounds 1 and 2 display a Ln6Cu12 octahedral inner core encapsulated by six outer Cu2 units. In the Ln6Cu12 octahedron, 6 Ln3+ ions located at the six vertices and 12 inner Cu2+ ions located at the 12 edges of octahedron, and one NO3- locates in the center of the octahedron. The metal core of compounds 3 and 4 can be viewed as a Ln6 octahedron encapsulated by six Cu2 units. It is interesting that the different inorganic anions involved in the reaction result in the difference in the structures of 1 to 2 and 3 to 4. Circular dichroism spectra of 1-4 display obvious mirror symmetry effect at 600-800 nm of d-d transition of Cu2+, suggesting that the chirality transferred from chiral R- and S-ligand to Cu2+ ions in this system. Notably, the CD peak at the Cu2+ d-d transition position of Ln6Cu12 cluster is obviously blue-shifted compared with that of Ln6Cu24 due to the different coordinated environments of Cu2+. Magnetic studies indicate that 1a and 2a show weak ferromagnetic interactions, while 3a and 4a display antiferromagnetic interactions.