Two manganese(III) tetradentate Schiff-base dimers to which
N,
N'-dicyano-1,4-naphthoquinonediiminate (DCNNQI)radicals are attached have been selectively synthesized by varying the solvents used in the reactions: [Mn
2(5-MeOsaltmen)
2(DCNNQI)
2]·MeOH (
1) and [Mn
2(5-MeOsaltmen)
2(DCNNQI)
2]·2CH
2Cl
2·2CH
3CN (
2) [5-MeOsaltmen
2-=
N,
N'-(1,1,2,2-tetramethylethylene)bis(5-methoxysalicylideneiminate)]. These two complexes share the samemolecular core, [(DCNNQI
-)-Mn
III-(O)
2-Mn
III-(DCNNQI
-)], where -(O)
2- is a biphenolate bridge in the out-of-plane dimerized [Mn
2(5-MeOsaltmen)
2]
2+ moiety. However, their packing arrangements are completely different.Whereas complex
1 is found to be relatively isolated, strong intermolecular dimerization of the DCNNQI moieties(with the nearest contact being ~3.0 Å) is observed in
2, forming a one-dimensional chain of [-Mn
III-(O)
2-Mn
III-(DCNNQI
-)
2-]
. The magnetic susceptibility of
1 can be modeled with an [
S =
1/
2, 2, 2,
1/
2] four-spin systemincluding strong antiferromagnetic Mn
III/DCNNQI radical coupling (
JMn/rad/
kB = -23 K) and ferromagnetic Mn
III/Mn
IIIcoupling through the biphenolate bridge (
JMn/Mn/
kB = +2.0 K). These interactions lead to an
ST = 3 ground statethat possesses significant uniaxial anisotropy (
DS=3/
kB = -2.1 K). Low-temperature ac and dc magnetic data of
1reveal its single-molecule magnet behavior with quantum tunneling of the magnetization. By contrast,
2 possessesthe diamagnetic ground state induced by dominating Mn
III-Mn
III antiferromagnetic interactions mediated by thediamagnetic DCNNQI dimers and/or
-
contact along the
b axis.