Nickel(II) Salicylaldiminates: Re-Visiting a Classic

A series of Ni(II) trinuclear complexes, [Ni₃(sala-X)₆] (sala-X = o-[(p-X-phenylimino)methyl]phenol; X = Br 1-Br, Me 1-Me and OMe 1-OMe), have been prepared and fully characterised. X-ray crystallographic studies reveal that the complexes are composed of three face-sharing octahedral Ni(II) metal ions bridged by the phenoxide oxygens of the sala-X ligands. Magnetic studies indicate that the magnetic Ni(II) centres are ferromagnetically coupled with the substituent group having only a minor impact on the magnitude of coupling. DFT calculations also support ferromagnetic coupling with smaller Ni-O-Ni angles leading to slightly larger coupling constants in line with previous studies.