Transition-Metal Dependent Cation Disorder in the Chiral Cubic AB(HCO2)3 Metal-Organic Frameworks (A = Li or Na, B = Mn or Co)

This study examines the crystal structures of the AB(HCO2)3 (A = Li or Na and B = Mn or Co) metal-organic frameworks, which we find to adopt a chiral cubic P213 structure. This shows that the Li containing formates are isostructural with their Na analogues, extending the phase stability of this chiral architecture. The Mn containing compounds have a magnetic sublattice similar to ?-Mn, long of interest due to its highly frustrated antiferromagnetic coupling. In contrast the Co formates appear to have partially disordered alkali and transition metal cations, which prevents the formation of a clean ?-Mn-like magnetic sublattice. We have also re-examined the magnetic properties of NaMn(HCO2)3 finding it to be a simple paramagnet down to 2 K with only weak antiferromagnetic coupling.