Both L ligands are arranged such that one TBC [4] moiety in each has undergone inversion in order to accommodate a [Mn III 4Mn metallic skeleton that describes three vertex-sharing [Mn III 2Mn butterflies (Fig. ). These are of two types. The central butterfly (Mn III 2, Mn II 5, O6 (ORL), O7 (ORL), O14 (OH) and symmetry equivalent) is of the form [Mn4(µ3-OH)2(µ-ORL)4] and is reminiscent of the structure of 2 in that the Mn III ions occupy the wings and the Mn II ions occupy the body positions of the butterfly (Fig. ). The peripheral butterflies (Mn III 1, Mn III 2, Mn II 3, Mn II 4, O1 (ORL), O4 (ORL), O5 (ORL), O8 (ORL), O13 (OH)) appear rather asymmetric and are of the form [Mn4(µ3-OH)(µ-ORL)4] with just one µ3-bridging OH anion (O13) linking Mn1, Mn3 and Mn4. O13 H-bonds to the neighbouring µ3-OH ion in the central butterfly (O13•••O14, 2.831 Å). The metal-oxygen core is completed by the presence of four "external" µ-OH ions that link the Mn II ions in the body positions of the central butterfly to the Mn II ions in the body positions of peripheral butterflies (Mn5'-O16-Mn3; Mn5-O17-Mn4). Thus, as expected, the L ligands bind the Mn III ions within their polyphenolic pockets with the Mn II ions encapsulated between them, linked through multiple OH anions.