The trinuclear complex [Ni₃(C₁₃H₉N₂O)₅(CH₃OH)(CH₃CH₂OH)]Cl was obtained by the reaction of the bidentate N,O-donor ligand 2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)benzimidazole with NiCl₂•6H₂O in methanol-etha- nol at room temperature. The structure and chemical composition of title complex were determined by elemental analysis, IR spectrum, UV-Vis spectrum, thermal analysis and X-ray diffraction analysis. The crystal structure belongs to triclinic system, space group P-1 with a＝1.2046(2) nm, b＝1.4891(3) nm, c＝2.1342(4) nm, α＝96.787(3)°, β＝104.862(3)°, γ＝99.993(3)°, V＝3.5904(12) nm³, Z＝2, D_c＝1.349 g/cm³, F(000)＝1516, GOF＝1.008, R₁＝0.0583, wR₂＝0.1455 [I＞2σ(I)]. The X-ray crystal structure of the trinuclear complex reveals that the three unsymmetric Ni(II) atoms, which have different coordinated environment, were bridged by four of five oxygen atoms from five ligands and a novel V-model metal cluster complex was formed. The low-temperature (300～1.8 K) magnetic measurement of the title complex reveals that it was weakly antiferromagnetically coupled.

Key words: 2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)benzimidazole, trinuclear nickel complex, crystal structure, thermal decomposition, magnetic property