Exploring the Magnetic Interactions in Two Novel Cyanide-Bridged Homo- and Heterometallic Hexadecanuclear Complexes.

Two novel isostructural cyanide-bridged hexadecanuclear complexes with the general formula {[Fe(CN) 6 ] 6 [M{en(Bn)py}] 10 } 2+ [M=Fe (1 2+ ), Ni (2 2+ )] have been synthesized. The structural analyses disclose the presence of multivalent Fe centres with different spin states in complex 1 2+ whereas all the Fe centres share a conserved oxidation state in complex 2 2+ . The DC magnetic study revealed antiferromagnetic interactions between the adjacent metal centres and ferrimagnetic behaviour in 1 2+ . On the other hand, ferromagnetic interactions were observed in complex 2 2+ due to nearly orthogonal orientation of the interacting orbitals and poor spatial overlap as observed in BS-DFT calculations.