A photochromic trinuclear dysprosium(iii) single-molecule magnet with two distinct relaxation processes.

Multifunctional molecules responsive to light are highly desired as components for the construction of remotely controlled nanodevices. Here we present a Dy single molecule magnet (SMM) comprising dithienylethene (dte) photochromic bridging ligands in the form of a pyridine (py) derivative: 1,2-bis((2-methyl-5-pyridyl)thie-3-yl)perfluorocyclo-pentene (dtepy). The title trinuclear compound {[Dy(BHT)](dtepy)}·4CH (1) was synthesized by combining the low-coordinate dysprosium complexes Dy(BHT) (BHT = 2,6-di--butyl-4-methylphenolate) with dtepy bridging ligands in the 'open' form using -pentane as a completely inert solvent.

Guest-induced pore breathing controls the spin state in a cyanido-bridged framework.

Iron(ii) spin cross-over (SCO) compounds combine a thermally driven transition from the diamagnetic low-spin (LS) state to the paramagnetic high-spin (HS) state with a distinct change in the crystal lattice volume. Inversely, if the crystal lattice volume was modulated post-synthetically, the spin state of the compound could be tunable, resulting in the inverse effect for SCO. Herein, we demonstrate such a spin-state tuning in a breathing cyanido-bridged porous coordination polymer (PCP), where the volume change resulting from guest-induced gate-opening and -closing directly affects its spin state.

Approaching the free-ion limit in magnetically isotropic gadolinium(III) borohydride ligands.

Three new crystalline phases of the borohydride complex, [-BuN][RE(BH)] (RE = Gd (1), GdY (2) and GdY (3)), were obtained in pure form and characterised using EPR spectroscopy and AC/DC magnetometry. In all 1-3, unusually slow field-induced magnetic relaxation was observed up to high temperatures, which above 10 K is dominated by power law thermal dependence identified as the two-phonon Raman process. Therefore, weak-field ligands such as borohydride seem to be the perfect candidates for triggering slow magnetic relaxation of magnetically isotropic gadolinium(III) ions.

Magnetic interactions controlled by light in the family of Fe(II)-M(IV) (M = Mo, W, Nb) hybrid organic-inorganic frameworks.

Three new hybrid organic-inorganic frameworks employing octacyanidometallates and 4,4'-bypiridine dioxide (4,4'-bpdo) as bridging molecules were prepared and characterized. The three-dimensional coordination frameworks {[Fe(μ-4,4'-bpdo)(HO)][M(CN)]·9HO} (Fe2Mo, Fe2W and Fe2Nb; M = Mo, W and Nb) are composed of cyanido-bridged chains, which are interconnected by the organic linkers. Magnetic measurements for Fe2Nb show a two-step transition to the antiferromagnetic state, which results from the cooperation of antiferromagnetic intra- and inter-chain interactions.

An intermetallic molecular nanomagnet with the lanthanide coordinated only by transition metals.

Magnetic molecules known as molecular nanomagnets (MNMs) may be the key to ultra-high density data storage. Thus, novel strategies on how to design MNMs are desirable. Here, inspired by the hexagonal structure of the hardest intermetallic magnet SmCo, we have synthesized a nanomagnetic molecule where the central lanthanide (Ln) Er is coordinated solely by three transition metal ions (TM) in a perfectly trigonal planar fashion.