Crystal Structure of a Supramolecular Complex Built up from Molybdenum(II) Trifluoroacetate and Copper(II) Schiff-Base Components, [{CuLt-Bu}2{Mo2(O2CCF3)4}3(H2O)2]n, H2Lt-Bu = 2,3-bis((5-tert-butyl-2-hydroxybenzylidene)amino)-2,3-butenedinitrile

There has been much interest for the use of tetracarboxylato dimetal complexes with a lantern-like structure as building blocks in combination with bridging ligands to construct two or three-dimensional architectures, because they show remarkable properties, such as gas-occlusion and ferrior ferromagnetism.1–3 Here, we report on a new assembled complex, [{CuL}2 {Mo2(O2CCF3)4}3(H2O)2] (1), H2L = 2,3-bis((5-tert-butyl-2hydroxybenzylidene)amino)-2,3-butenedinitrile. The copper(II) complex with a Schiff-base ligand ([CuLt-Bu]) is paramagnetic, based on the d9 configuration, although the lantern-type dinuclear molybdenum(II) complex is diamagnetic based on the σ2π4δ2 configuration of the Mo–Mo quadruple bond core. The phenoxido oxygen of [CuLt-Bu] was shown to participate in the axial interaction with the molybdenum(II) dinuclear core to assemble the component complex units, giving the supramolecular chain structure (Fig. 1).