A series of oxalato-bridged dinuclear copper(II) complexes of the general formula [Cu
2(Pz
2CPh
2)
2(X)
2(
-C
2O
4)](X = Cl
- (
1), NO
3- (
2), ClO
4- (
3); Pz
2CPh
2 = diphenyldipyrazolylmethane) or [Cu
2(Pz
3m2CPh
2)
2(H
2O)
2(
-C
2O
4)](NO
3)
2·H
2O (
4) (Pz
3m2CPh
2 = diphenylbis(3-methylpyrazolyl)methane) was synthesized where the axial ligand wassystematically varied to study its effect on structure and magnetic coupling. The structures of compounds
1,
2, and
4 have been elucidated by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. [Cu
2(Pz
2CPh
2)
2(Cl)
2(
-C
2O
4)] and [Cu
2(Pz
2CPh
2)
2(NO
3)
2(
-C
2O
4)] are isostructural and crystallize in the triclinic system, space group
P,
Z = 2, with
a = 8.6155(8) Å,
b= 10.1435(9) Å,
c = 11.3612(11) Å,
chars/alpha.gif" BORDER=0> = 95.535(2)
,
chars/beta2.gif" BORDER=0 ALIGN="middle"> = 110.303(2)
, and
chars/gamma.gif" BORDER=0 > = 106.111(2)
for
1 and with
a= 8.863(7) Å,
b = 10.241(9) Å,
c = 11.425(10) Å,
chars/alpha.gif" BORDER=0> = 98.985(14)
,
chars/beta2.gif" BORDER=0 ALIGN="middle"> = 110.449(13)
, and
chars/gamma.gif" BORDER=0 > = 103.664(14)
for
2. [Cu
2(Pz
3m2CPh
2)
2(H
2O)
2(
-C
2O
4)]·NO
3·H
2O crystallizes in the monoclinic system, space group
C2/
c,
Z = 4,with
a = 23.4588(14) Å,
b = 8.8568(5) Å,
c = 21.7818(13) Å,
chars/alpha.gif" BORDER=0> =
chars/gamma.gif" BORDER=0 > = 90
, and
chars/beta2.gif" BORDER=0 ALIGN="middle"> = 100.8890(10)
. Variable-temperature magnetic susceptibility studies indicate that all four compounds are strongly antiferromagnetically coupled(2
J/
k = -364, -344 cm
-1 (
2), -424 cm
-1 (
3), and -378 cm
-1 (
4)). Magnetic and EPR results are discussed withrespect to structural parameters to explore possible magneto-structural correlations.