A hexanuclear cobalt(III) complex containing the pseudocubane fragment [Co4(μ4-O)2(μ3-O) 2] in its metal framework and a solvated dibenzyl ether molecule

Room-temperature oxidation of a mixture of the complex (CoII)3(μ-OOCBu t )6(NEt3)2 and dibenzyl ether (DBE) with atmospheric oxygen in dichloromethane-benzene (4: 1) gave the hexanuclear complex [(CoIII)6(μ4-O)2(μ3-O)2(μ-OOCBu t )9(OH)2(HOOCBu t )](HNEt3) · 0.5DBE · C6H6 (I) as the major reaction product. According to X-ray diffraction data, the metal framework of complex I contains the pseudocubane fragment [Co4(μ4-O)2(μ3-O)2] linked with two “peripheral” cobalt(III) ions. The possibility of using complex I as an intermediate catalyst for liquid-phase oxidation of DBE as well as the conformational changes in the DBE molecule due to its adaptation to the metal complexes are discussed.