Anion exchange induced tunable catalysis properties of an uncommon butterfly-like tetranuclear copper(ii)cluster and magnetic characterization

Abstract

An uncommon butterfly-like tetranuclear copper(II) cluster with the formula {[Cu₄(μ₃-OH)₂(μ₄-Cl)(H₂O)₂(L)₂]·Cl(H₂O)₇}_n (1) (H₂L = 1,2-bis[3-(1,2,4-triazolyl)-4-amino-5-carboxylmethylthio]ethane) has been synthesized. Compound 1 exhibits interesting anion exchange characteristics, in which both guest and coordinated Cl⁻ can be replaced by I⁻ or NO₃⁻ in water. Furthermore, a high catalytic selectivity to produce poly(phenylene ether) by the oxidative coupling of 2,6-dimethylphenol in water is found to be 74% for 1 and 87% for the anion-exchanged product 1-MI_x, respectively. Additionally, the antiferromagnetic interaction among Cu ions for compound 1 is also found.