Heptaaquatetra-mu3-hydroxy-hexa-mu2-L-leucine-(L-leucine)tetraytterbium(III) tetrachlorozinc(II) trichlorohydroxyzinc(II) tetrachloride octahydrate.
The title bimetallic compound, [Yb4(mu3-OH)4(C6H13NO2)7(H2O)7][ZnCl4][ZnCl3(OH)]Cl4.8H2O, was synthesized at near physiological pH (6.0). The compound exhibits some novel structural features, including an asymmetric [Yb4(mu3-OH)4(L-leucine)7(H2O)7]8+ complex cation in which four OH groups act as bridging ligands, linking four Yb3+ cations into a Yb4O4 structural unit. Each pair of adjacent Yb3+ ions is further bridged by one carboxy group from a leucine ligand. Water molecules and a monodentate leucine ligand also coordinate to Yb3+ ions, completing their eight-coordinate square-antiprismatic coordination. The Yb4(mu3-OH)4(L-leucine)7(H2O)7]8+ cation, the [ZnCl4]2-, [ZnCl3OH]2- and Cl- anions, and the lattice water molecules are linked via hydrogen bonds.