Triangular, ferromagnetically-coupled CuII 3-pyrazolato complexes as possible models of particulate methane monooxygenase (pMMO).

Magnetic susceptibility and EPR studies show that trinuclear Cu(II)-pyrazolato complexes with a Cu(3)(mu3-X)2 core (X = Cl, Br) are ferromagnetically coupled: J(Cu-Cu) = +28.6 cm(-1) (X = Cl), +3.1 cm(-1) (X = Br). The orderly transition from an antiferromagnetic to a ferromagnetic exchange among the Cu centers of Cu(3)(mu3-X) complexes, X = O, OH, Cl, Br, follows the change of the Cu-X-Cu angle from 120 degrees to approximately 80 degrees. The crystal structures of [Bu4N]2"[Cu3(mu3-Br)2(mu-pz*)3Br3] (pz* = pz (1a) or 4-O2N-pz (1b), pz = pyrazolato anion, C(3)H(3)N(2)(1-)) are presented.

Strong cooperativeness in the mononuclear iron(II) derivative exhibiting an abrupt spin transition above 400 K.

The spin crossover system, [Fe(bzimpy)(2)](ClO(4))(2).0.25H(2)O, was reinvestigated above room temperature (bzimpy = 2,6-bis(benzimidazol-2-yl)pyridine). The system exhibits an abrupt low-spin to high-spin transition at T(c) = 403 K. Liberation of a fractional amount of water does not affect the spin crossover: the system is perfectly reversible with a hysteresis width of DeltaT = 12 K. The existence of the hysteresis at such high temperature determines that the lowest limit of the solid-state cooperativity parameter is J/k > 403 K despite long iron(II) separations (10 A). The high cooperativeness has been assigned to a perfect pi-stacking of the benzimidazole rings in the crystal lattice at a distance as short as 3.6 A. Variable-temperature IR data and the heat capacity measurements match well the magnetic data. The thermodynamic properties are DeltaH = 17 kJ mol(-)(1), DeltaS = 43 J K(-)(1) mol(-)(1), so that the entropy of the spin transition shows a considerable contribution from the molecular vibrations. A theoretical model has been applied in fitting the magnetic data along the whole hysteresis path. A statistical distribution of the cooperativity parameter led to the feature that angled walls of the hysteresis loop are well reproduced.