This paper reports on the synthesis, structure and magnetic properties of a new type of rod like Mn12 metal cluster, [Mn12O7(OH)2(OMe)2(dmhmp)4(O2CPh)11(H2O)] (6) where the ligand (dmhmpH) is 2-(pyridine-2-yl)propan-2-ol. Compound (6) was obtained by reacting MnCl2·4H2O with dmhmpH in the presence of benzoic salt and Et3N. The resulting crystalline material is assigned to the triclinic space group P1̄. Although compound (6) displays ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic competition behavior, this does not prevent the molecule from functioning as a single-molecule magnet (SMM). The SMM behavior is evidenced by observing frequency dependent out-of-phase ac signals as well as magnetization hysteresis loops at low temperatures in a micro-SQUID study. A brief comparison between all rod-like Mn12 materials is also given in the manuscript.
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