Structural Re-Arrangement in Two Hexanuclear Cuii Complexes: From a Spin Frustrated Trigonal Prism to a Strongly Coupled Antiferromagnetic Soluble Ring Complex with a Porous Tubular Structure

The addition of water to a chloroform solution of the Cu6 trigonal prism complex [Cu6(?6F)(?2OH) (?3OCH3)2(?2OCH 3)2(3,5-Me2pz)6] (1) (3,5-Me 2pz- = 3,5-dimethylpyrazolate) results in the formation of the Cu6 planar hexagonal ring complex [Cu6(? 2OH)6(3,5-Me2pz)6]·CH 3CN·CHCl3 (2). A simple mechanism for this structural re-arrangement is proposed, in which 2 can be viewed as a hydrolysis product of 1. This process is clearly noticeable in the magnetic properties, which change from spin frustrated with a weak antiferromagnetic coupling in 1, to strongly antiferromagnetic in 2. Interestingly, the hexagonal ring complex 2 self-assembles in the solid state to form a porous hexagonal tubular structure containing guest solvent molecules that can be removed and CO 2-exchanged without loss of crystallinity. © 2013 The Royal Society of Chemistry.