Two nickel(II) complexes of formula (H(3)dien)(2)[Ni(2)(ox)(5)].12H(2)O (1) and [Ni(2)(dien)(2)(H(2)O)(2)(ox)]Cl(2) (2) (dien = diethylenetriamine and ox = oxalate dianion) have been synthesized and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. 1 crystallizes in the orthorhombic system, space group Abnn, with a = 15.386(4) Å, b = 15.710(4) Å, c = 17.071(4) Å, and Z = 4. 2 crystallizes in the monoclinic system, space group P2(1)/c, with a = 10.579(1) Å, b = 7.258(1) Å, c = 13.326(1) Å, beta = 93.52(3) degrees, and Z = 2. The structures of 1 and 2 consist of dinuclear oxalato-bridged nickel(II) units which contain bidentate oxalate (1) and tridentate dien in the fac-conformation (2) as terminal ligands. Both features, oxalato as a peripheral ligand and dien in the fac-conformation (instead of its usual mer-conformation), are unprecedented in the coordination chemistry of nickel(II). The nickel atom is six-coordinated in both compounds, the chromophores being NiO(6) (1) and NiN(3)O(3) (2). The Ni-O(ox) bond distances at the bridge (2.072(4) Å in 1 and 2.11(1) and 2.125(9) Å in 2) are somewhat longer than those concerning the terminal oxalate (2.037(5) and 2.035(3) Å in 1). Magnetic susceptibility data of 1 and 2 in the temperature range 4.2-300 K show the occurrence of intramolecular antiferromagnetic coupling with J = -22.8 (1) and -28.8 (2) cm(-)(1) (J being the parameter of the exchange Hamiltonian H = -JS(A).S(B)). The observed value of -J in the investigated oxalato-bridged nickel(II) complexes, which can vary from 22 to 39 cm(-)(1), is strongly dependent on the nature of the donor atoms from the peripheral ligands. This influence has been analyzed and rationalized through extended Hückel calculations.

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