The goal of this work was to synthesize new molecular bricks which cou
ld be used as precursors of heterobimetallic low-dimensional compounds
. Along this line, four compounds have been synthesized and structural
ly characterized, namely (NBu(4))(2)[Ni(Cl(2)opba)] (1), (NBu(4))(2)[C
u(Cl(2)opba)] (2), (NBu(4))(5)[Mn(Cl(2)opba)(DMSO)(2)](4) (3), and Cu(
en)(2)[Mn(Cl(2)opba)(H2O)(2)](2) . 2DMSO (4), with Cl(2)opba = (4,5-di
chloro-o-phenylene)bis(oxamato), NBu(4) = tetra-n-butylammonium, en =
ethylenediamine, and DMSO = dimethyl sulfoxide. Compounds 1 and 2 are
isostructural; they crystallize in the monoclinic system, space group
C2/c, Z = 4, with a = 18.708(2) Angstrom, b = 17.525(2) Angstrom, c =
14.763(9) Angstrom, and beta = 92.03(4)degrees for 1 and a = 18.928(2)
Angstrom, b = 17.634(2) Angstrom, c = 14.704(9) Angstrom, and beta =
92.38(3)degrees for 2. 3 crystallizes in the tetragonal system, space
group P(4) over bar2$(1)c, Z = 2, with a = 26.295(10) Angstrom and c =
12.342(7) Angstrom. The structure shows a random occupation of the me
tal site by Mn(III) and Mn(II) ions in 3/4 and 1/4 ratios, respectivel
y. 4 crystallizes in the triclinic system, space group <P(1)over bar>,
Z = 1, with a = 7.066(7) Angstrom, b = 11.844(1) Angstrom, c = 14.292
(5) Angstrom, alpha = 105.64(2)degrees, beta = 97.67(5)degrees, and ga
mma = 102.13(3)degrees. The structure consists of (MnCuMnIII)-Cu-III-M
n-II trinuclear species, with Cu-O-Mn bridges involving oxygen atoms o
f the oxamato groups already linked to the metal atom. The magnetic pr
operties of compounds 1-4 have been investigated and quantitatively in
terpreted. For 3, this magnetic investigation has been performed on a
single crystal, which allows us to determine unambiguously the sign of
the axial zero-field splitting parameter for the Mn(III) ion. The pot
entialities of these new molecular bricks have been discussed.