Four manganese(II) bromide coordination complexes have been prepared with four pyridine N-oxides, viz. pyridine N-oxide (PNO), 2-methyl-pyridine N-oxide (2MePNO), 3-methyl-pyridine N-oxide (3MePNO), and 4-methyl-pyridine N-oxide (4MePNO). The compounds are bis-(μ-pyridine N-oxide)bis-[aqua-dibromido-(pyridine N-oxide)manganese(II)], [Mn2Br4(C5H5NO)4(H2O)2] (I), bis-(μ-2-methyl-pyridine N-oxide)bis-[di-aqua-dibromido-manganese(II)]-2-methyl-pyridine N-oxide (1/2), [Mn2Br4(C6H7NO)2(H2O)4]·2C6H7NO (II), bis-(μ-3-methyl-pyridine N-oxide)bis-[aqua-dibromido-(3-methyl-pyridine N-oxide)manganese(II)], [Mn2Br4(C6H7NO)4(H2O)2] (III), and bis-(μ-4-methyl-pyridine N-oxide)bis-[di-bromido-methanol(4-methyl-pyridine N-oxide)manganese(II)], [Mn2Br4(C6H7NO)4(CH3OH)2] (IV). All the compounds have one unique MnII atom and form a dimeric complex that contains two MnII atoms related by a crystallographic inversion center. Pseudo-octa-hedral six-coordinate manganese(II) centers are found in all four compounds. All four compounds form dimers of Mn atoms bridged by the oxygen atom of the PNO ligand. Compounds I, II and III exhibit a bound water of solvation, whereas compound IV contains a bound methanol mol-ecule of solvation. Compounds I, III and IV exhibit the same arrangement of mol-ecules around each manganese atom, ligated by two bromide ions, oxygen atoms of two PNO ligands and one solvent mol-ecule, whereas in compound II each manganese atom is ligated by two bromide ions, one O atom of a PNO ligand and two water mol-ecules with a second PNO mol-ecule inter-acting with the complex via hydrogen bonding through the bound water mol-ecules. All of the compounds form extended hydrogen-bonding networks, and compounds I, II, and IV exhibit offset π-stacking between PNO ligands of neighboring dimers.
Keywords: complex; crystal structure; hydrogen bonding; manganese(II) bromide; offset π-stacking; pyridine N-oxide ligand.