Structural, magnetic and spectroscopic data on four new spin triplet Mn3+ complexes reveals a large magnetic anisotropy. Spin state is sensitive to lattice contents as the spin quintet ground state is stabilized on co-crystallization with ethanol.

Structural, magnetic, and spectroscopic data on a Mn 3+ spin-crossover complex with Schiff base ligand 4-OMe-Sal 2 323, isolated in crystal lattices with five different counteranions, are reported. Complexes of [Mn(4-OMe-Sal 2 323)]X where X = ClO 4 – ( 1 ), BF 4 – ( 2 ), NO 3 – ( 3 ), Br – ( 4 ), and I – ( 5 ) crystallize isotypically in the chiral orthorhombic space group P 2 1 2 1 2 with a range of spin state preferences for the [Mn(4-OMe-Sal 2 323)] + complex cation over the temperature range 5–300 K. Complexes 1 and 2 are high-spin, complex 4 undergoes a gradual and complete thermal spin crossover, while complexes 3 and 5 show stepped crossovers with different ratios of spin triplet and quintet forms in the intermediate temperature range. High-field electron paramagnetic resonance was used to measure the zero-field splitting parameters associated with the spin triplet and quintet states at temperatures below 10 K for complexes 4 and 2 with respective values: D S =1 = +23.38(1) cm –1 , E S =1 = +2.79(1) cm –1 , and D S =2 = +6.9(3) cm –1 , with a distribution of E parameters for the S = 2 state. Solid-state circular dichroism (CD) spectra on high-spin complex 1 at room temperature reveal a 2:1 ratio of enantiomers in the chiral conglomerate, and solution CD measurements on the same sample in methanol show that it is stable toward racemization. Solid-state UV–vis absorption spectra on high-spin complex 1 and mixed S = 1/ S = 2 sample 5 reveal different intensities at higher energies, in line with the different electronic composition. The statistical prevalence of homochiral crystallization of [Mn(4-OMe-Sal 2 323)] + in five lattices with different achiral counterions suggests that the chirality may be directed by the 4-OMe-Sal 2 323 ligand.