Tris[6-meth-oxy-2-(phenyl-iminiometh-yl)phenolato]-κO,O';κO-tris-(thio-cyanato-κN)samarium(III).

In the crystal structure of title compound, [Sm(NCS)(3)(C(14)H(13)NO(2))(3)], two of the zwitterionic Schiff base 6-meth-oxy-2-(phenyl-iminiometh-yl)phenolate ligands coordinate to the Sm(III) atom in a bidentate fashion via the phenolate and meth-oxy O atoms. The third Schiff base ligand is monodentate, binding only through the phenolate O atom. The coordination sphere of the eight-coordinate Sm atom is completed by the three independent thio-cyanate ions binding through their N atoms, affording a square-anti-prismatic geometry. An S atom of one of the thio-cyanate anions is disordered over two sites in a 0.85:0.15 ratio. In the phenolate ligands, the proton of the phenolic hy-droxy group transfers to the imine N atom. This proton is also involved in an intra-molecular N-H⋯O hydrogen bond that imposes a nearly planar conformation on each ligand, with dihedral angles of 1.75 (4), 3.68 (5) and 3.86 (4)° between the aromatic rings of each ligand.