Synthesis and properties of a family of unsymmetric dinuclear complexes of Ln(III) (Ln = Eu, Gd, Tb).

A new ligand has been synthesized with the aim of favoring distinct coordination environments within lanthanide polynuclear complexes. It has led to the formation of three unsymmetrical [Ln(III)(2)] (Ln = Gd, Tb, Eu) complexes, exhibiting weak antiferromagnetic coupling and, for Eu and Tb, high single-ion magnetic anisotropy. All of these attributes are necessary for these clusters to behave as possible 2qubit quantum gates.