  Spin-1/2 magnets with kagome geometry, being for years a generic object of
theoretical investigations, have few real material realizations. Recently, a
DFT-based microscopic model for two such materials, kapellasite Cu3Zn(OH)6Cl2
and haydeeite Cu3Mg(OH)6Cl2, was presented [O. Janson, J. Richter and H.
Rosner, arXiv:0806.1592]. Here, we focus on the intrinsic properties of real
spin-1/2 kagome materials having influence on the magnetic ground state and the
low-temperature excitations. We find that the values of exchange integrals are
strongly dependent on O--H distance inside the hydroxyl groups, present in most
spin-1/2 kagome compounds up to date. Besides the original kagome model,
considering only the nearest neighbour exchange, we emphasize the crucial role
of the exchange along the diagonals of the kagome lattice.
