Molecular Level Synthesis of InFeO and InFeO/FeO Nanocomposites.

New heterometallic In-Fe alkoxides [InFe(OBu)(PyTFP)] (), [InFe(OPen)(Py)] (), and [InFe(OPen)] () were synthesized and structurally characterized. The arrangement of metal centers in mixed-metal framework was governed by the In:Fe ratio and the coordination preferences of Fe(III) and In(III) centers to be in tetrahedral and octahedral environments, respectively. displayed a star-shaped so-called "Mitsubishi" motif with the central In atom coordinated with three tetrahedral {Fe(OPen)} anionic units. The deterministic structural influence of the larger In atom was evident in and which displayed the coordination of neutral coligands to achieve the desired coordination number. Thermal decomposition studies of compounds - under inert conditions with subsequent powder diffraction studies revealed the formation of FeO and InO in the case of and , whereas intriguingly produced elemental In and Fe. In contrary, the thermal decomposition of - under ambient conditions produced a ternary oxide, InFeO, with additional FeO present as a secondary phase in a different stoichiometric ratio predetermined through the In:Fe ratio in and . The intimate mixing of different phases in InFeO/FeO nanocomposites was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy of solid residues obtained after the decomposition of and . The pure InFeO particles demonstrated ferromagnetic anomalies around 170 K as determined by temperature-dependent field-cooled and zero-field-cooled magnetization experiments. A first-order magnetic transition with an increase in the ZFC measurements was explained by temperature-induced reduction of the Fe-Fe distance and the corresponding increase in superexchange.