“…The structure of 1 was determined by X-ray crystallography and variable-temperature magnetic data in the temperature range of 4-300 K indicate weak antiferromagnetism (J 1,2 ffi À1.0 cm À1 ) between the Cu(1) and Cu (2) centers bridged by the l-alkoxo and l-acetate groups and weak ferromagnetic coupling (J 1,3 = J 2,3 ffi + 4.0 cm À1 ) involving the {Cu(1)(l-phenoxo)Cu(3)} and {Cu(2)(l-phenoxo)Cu(3)} structural units. Complex 1 shows significant catalytic activity towards the hydrolysis of the model substrate bis (2,4-dinitrophenyl)phosphate (2, as well as catechol oxidase activity since it efficiently catalyzes the oxidation of 3,5-di-tert-butylcatechol to 3,5-di-tert-butyl-o-benzoquinone by dioxygen. A comparison of the catalytic efficiency of 1 with its dinuclear parent complex [Cu 2 (H 2 bbppnol)(l-OAc)] 2+ (H 3 bbppnol = N,N 0 ,N,N 0 -bis[(2-hydroxybenzyl)(2-methylpyridyl)]-1,3-propanediamine-2-ol) reveals that the hydrolase efficiency (k cat /K M ) is 12 times higher for 1, while the catecholase efficiencies of these two compounds are similar.…”