Slow magnetic relaxation and water oxidation activity of dinuclear CoIICoIII and unique triangular CoIICoIICoIII mixed-valence complexes

Construction of efficient multifunctional materials is one of the greatest challenges of our time. We herein report the magnetic and catalytic characterization of dinuclear [CoIIICoII(HL1)2(EtOH)(H2O)]Cl·2H2O (1) and trinuclear [CoIIICoII2(HL2)2(L2)Cl2]·3H2O (2) mixed valence complexes. Relevant structural features of the complexes have been mentioned to correlate with their magnetic and catalytic properties. Unique structural features, especially in terms of significant distortions around the CoII centre(s), prompted us to test both spin–orbit coupling (SOC) and zero field splitting (ZFS) methodologies for the systems. The positive sign of D values has been established from X-band EPR spec…