Isolated Mixed-Valence Iron Vanadium Malate and Its Metal Hydrates (M = Fe2+, Cu2+, Zn2+) with Reversible and Irreversible Adsorptions for Oxygen.

Isolated octanuclear iron-vanadium malate (NH4)3(CH3NH3)3[FeIII2VIV2VV4O11(mal)6]·7.5H2O (1; H3mal = malic acid) and its family of metal hydrates M'3n[MII(H2O)2]1.5n[FeIII2VIV2VV4O11(mal)6]n·xnH2O (2 or 2-Fe, M' = NH4+, M = Fe, x = 7.5; 3 or 3-Cu, M' = K+, M = Cu, x = 10; 4 or 4-Zn, M' = K+, M = Zn, x = 6.5) have been obtained by self-assembly in water. The cluster anion [Fe2V6O11(mal)6]6- (1a) shows an interesting iron bicapped-triangular-prismatic structure, which is bridged by M2+ hydrates (M = Fe, Cu, Zn) to construct isostructural metal organic frameworks (MOFs) 2-4. The mixed-valence vanadium systems in 1-4 were determined by theoretical bond valence calculations (BVS) and charge balance. The magnetic susceptibilities are further elucidated as high spin for Fe3+ in 1a and bridging Fe2+ in 2-Fe, respectively. A strong ferromagnetic interaction was also observed for 2-Fe at 3 K. 2-Fe, 3-Cu, and 4-Zn have similar hydrophilic channels with diameters of 6.8, 6.5, and 6.6 Å, respectively, which show obvious affinity for O2 in comparison with no adsorption of N2, H2, CO2, and CH4 at room temperature under different pressures. Moreover, 2-Fe and 4-Zn exhibit irreversible O2 absorptions, which may be attributed to charge transfer between O2 and open metal sites (OMSs) formed during vacuum heating pretreatment. UV-vis and EPR spectra show a change in electronic structure of 2-Fe after O2 adsorption. The reversible adsorption observed in 3-Cu suggests a weak interaction between O2 and Cu2+ due to the Jahn-Teller effect. The properties of gas adsorption provide an insight into the performances of small molecules in the channels constructed by synthetic octanuclear model compounds, which are related to the interactions between the gas substrate and the heterometal cluster in biology.