Evidence of a Photo‐Radical Pathway Responsible of the Rearrangement of a Manganese(III)‐Schiff Base Complex in Solution

A new MnIII‐Schiff base complex, [MnL(OH2)](ClO4) (1) (H2L = N, N′‐bis‐(3‐Br‐5‐Cl‐salicylidene)‐1, 2‐diimino‐2‐methylethane), an inorganic model of the catalytic center (OEC, Oxygen Evolving Complex) in photosystem II (PSII), has been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR and EPR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, magnetic susceptibility measurement and the study of its redox properties by cyclic and normal pulse voltammetry. This complex mimics reactivity (showing a relevant photolytic activity), and also some structural characteristics (parallel‐mode MnIII EPR signal from partially assembled OEC cluster) of the natural OEC. The complex 1 was found to rearrange in solution into a crystallographically solved square‐pyramidal complex, [MnLL′] (2) (HL′ = 6‐bromo‐4‐chloro‐2‐cyanophenol), through a process, which probably liberates radical species (detected by EPR), and provokes a C—N bond cleavage in the ligand. A photo‐radical mechanism is discussed to explain this rearrangement.