Diversity in structures and properties of 3d-incorporating polyoxotungstates

This critical review surveys the 3d substituted magnetic polyoxotungstate (POT) molecular compounds reported these last ten years, illustrating the huge variety of topologies that these systems can adopt. Both purely inorganic and organic/inorganic species have been considered, and the cited compounds have been classified according to their nuclearity, i.e., the number of magnetic 3d centres embedded in the POT matrix, which can be as high as 48. This review highlights the synthetic conditions, the solubility and the stability in solution of these species. The magnetic, catalytic and electrocatalytic properties of these complexes are also summarized.