Synthesis and isolation of two high-nuclearity managanese( II ) imido compounds: structural characterization of a compound containing a [Mn 6 (µ 3 -NPh) 4 ] 4+ core

The reaction of the imide transfer agent [{Mg(NPh)(thf)}6](thf = tetrahydrofuran) with MnBr2 led to the isolation of the polynuclear manganese(II) imido compounds [{Mn6(µ3-NPh)4Br3(thf)4}{Mg2(µ-NHPh)(µ-Br)2Br2(thf)4}]·3C6H5Me and [Mn6(µ3-NPh)4Br4(thf)6] in moderate yield. A crystal structure analysis of the former revealed a formally cationic, adamantane-like Mn6N4 structure linked to a dimagnesium centred counter anion via Br– bridges.