A Nonanuclear Iron(II) Single-Molecule Magnet

Polynuclear Iron(II) Pyridonates: Synthesis and Reactivity of Fe4 and Fe5 Clusters

The combination of pyridonate ligands with transition metal ions enables the synthesis of an especially rich set of diverse coordination compounds involving various κ- and μ-bonding modes and higher nuclearities. With iron(II) ions, this chemical space is rather poorly explored beyond some biomimetic models of the pyridone iron-containing hydrogenase. Here, the topologically new Fe₅ and Fe₄ clusters, Fe₅(L^H)₆[N(SiMe₃)₂]₄ (1) and Fe₄(L^Me)₆[N(SiMe₃)₂]₂ (2), were synthesized (L^H = 2-pyridonate; L^Me = 6-methyl-2-pyridonate). Complex 1 contained an unprecedented diamondoid Fe@Fe₄ tetrahedron with a central-to-peripheral Fe-Fe distance of ∼3.1 Å. The crystal structure of complex 2 displayed an Fe₄O₆ butterfly motif containing a planar Fe₄ arrangement. Mössbauer spectroscopy confirmed the high-spin ferrous character of all iron ions. SQUID magnetometry reveals that the Fe(II) ions are involved in weak magnetic exchange coupling across the pyridonate bridges that results in antiferromagnetic interactions. The Fe₄ cluster exhibits slow relaxation of magnetization under an applied magnetic field with an effective energy barrier of 38.5 K, rarely observed among the very rare examples of Fe(II) cluster-based single-molecule magnets. Studies of protolytic substitution of the amido ligands demonstrated the lability of the diamondoid Fe₅ core in 1 and the stability of the Fe₄ rhomboid in 2.

Enhancement of the coordinating flexibility in a Schiff–Mannich combo ligand: forced generation of a new NiII–Ophenoxo–LnIII–Oalkoxo–LnIII array (Ln = Gd, Tb, Dy and Ho)

A series of 3d–4f complexes, containing rare NiLn₂O₄ topology, were synthesized by designing a new type of combo Schiff base–Mannich ligand.

Coordination Clusters of 3d-Metals That Behave as Single-Molecule Magnets (SMMs): Synthetic Routes and Strategies

The area of 3d-metal coordination clusters that behave as Single-Molecule Magnets (SMMs) is now quite mature within the interdisciplinary field of Molecular Magnetism. This area has created a renaissance in Inorganic Chemistry. From the synthetic Inorganic Chemistry viewpoint, the early years of "try and see" exercises (1993-2000) have been followed by the development of strategies and strict approaches. Our review will first summarize the early synthetic efforts and routes for the preparation of polynuclear 3d-metal SMMs, and it will be then concentrated on the description of the existing strategies. The former involve the combination of appropriate 3d-metal-containing starting materials (simple salts with inorganic anions, metal cardoxylates, and pre-formed carboxylate clusters, metal phosphonates) and one or two primary organic ligands; the importance of the end-on azido group as a ferromagnetic coupler in 3d-metal SMM chemistry will be discussed. The utility of comproportionation reactions and the reductive aggregation route for the construction of manganese SMMs will also be described. Most of the existing strategies for the synthesis of SMMs concern manganese. These involve substitution of carboxylate ligands in pre-formed SMMs by other carboxylate or non-carboxylate groups, reduction procedures for the {Mn 8 III Mn 4 IV } SMMs, spin "tweaking," "switching on" SMM properties upon conversion of low-spin clusters into high-spin ones, ground-state spin switching and enhancing SMM properties via targeted structural distortions, the use of radical bridging ligands and supramolecular approaches. A very useful strategy is also the "switching on" of SMM behavior through replacement of bridging hydroxide groups by end-on azido or isocyanato ligands in clusters. Selected examples will be mentioned and critically discussed. Particular emphasis will be given on the criteria for the choice of ligands.

Enantiomerically pure chiral {Fe28} wheels

Wheels of steel: Two enantiomerically pure chiral {Fe(28)} wheel-like aggregates have been synthesized from the acetate buffer solution containing ferric ions and chiral tartrate ligands (see picture). These compounds are the largest chiral ferric aggregates isolated to date.

Single-ion and molecular contributions to the zero-field splitting in an iron(III)-oxo dimer studied by single crystal W-band EPR

Detailed knowledge of the type and strength of pair interactions between high-spin metal ions is paramount to the understanding and design of molecular magnetic materials. In this work, the anisotropic magnetic interactions in a beta-diketonate-alkoxide iron(III) dimer compound, [Fe2(OCH3)2(dbm)4, Hdbm=dibenzoylmethane] (Fe2) have been investigated by single crystal electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) in the W-band (at 95GHz). The diamagnetic substitution method was employed using the isomorphous gallium(III)-based compound doped with iron(III) to produce Ga-Fe dimers (GaFe). The single-ion zero-field splitting (ZFS) tensor could be separately determined in GaFe with the iron ion in a local environment quasi-identical to the one in Fe2. Its principal directions are found to point in arbitrary directions, uncorrelated with the Fe-O bonds. The Fe2 EPR spectra consist of transitions within the lowest multiplet states S=1,2,3, which were analyzed using the full spin Hamiltonian description of an exchange coupled pair of s=5/2 spins. The anisotropic spin-spin interaction tensor of Fe2 possesses a principal axis close to the Fe-Fe direction and was shown to arise both from through-space (dipolar) and through-bond (anisotropic exchange) contributions. The latter involves an rhombic component JE=(JX-JY)/2 approximately 0.093 cm-1 of magnitude comparable to the dipolar interaction, and even to the rhombic part of the single-ion ZFS (E=0.097 cm-1). Our results show that the anisotropic exchange, usually neglected for S-type ions, is significant for the anisotropic interactions in exchange-coupled iron(III) clusters, including the Fe4 and Fe8 families of single-molecule magnets and the antiferromagnetic iron wheels.

The {FeIII[FeIII(L1)2]3} star-type single-molecule magnet

Star-shaped complex [Fe(III)[Fe(III)(L1)2]3] (3) was synthesized starting from N-methyldiethanolamine H2L1 (1) and ferric chloride in the presence of sodium hydride. For 3, two different high-spin iron(III) ion sites were confirmed by Mössbauer spectroscopy at 77 K. Single-crystal X-ray structure determination revealed that 3 crystallizes with four molecules of chloroform, but, with only three molecules of dichloromethane. The unit cell of 3.4CHCl3 contains the enantiomers (delta)-[(S,S)(R,R)(R,R)] and (lambda)-[(R,R)(S,S)(S,S)], whereas in case of 3.3CH2Cl2 four independent molecules, forming pairs of the enantiomers [lambda-(R,R)(R,R)(R,R)]-3 and [lambda-(S,S)(S,S)(S,S)]-3, were observed in the unit cell. According to SQUID measurements, the antiferromagnetic intramolecular coupling of the iron(III) ions in 3 results in a S = 10/2 ground state multiplet. The anisotropy is of the easy-axis type. EPR measurements enabled an accurate determination of the ligand-field splitting parameters. The ferric star 3 is a single-molecule magnet (SMM) and shows hysteretic magnetization characteristics below a blocking temperature of about 1.2 K. However, weak intermolecular couplings, mediated in a chainlike fashion via solvent molecules, have a strong influence on the magnetic properties. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) were used to determine the structural and electronic properties of star-type tetranuclear iron(III) complex 3. The molecules were deposited onto highly ordered pyrolytic graphite (HOPG). Small, regular molecule clusters, two-dimensional monolayers as well as separated single molecules were observed. In our STS measurements we found a rather large contrast at the expected locations of the metal centers of the molecules. This direct addressing of the metal centers was confirmed by DFT calculations.

Dinuclear versus tetranuclear cluster formation in zinc(II) nitrate/di-2-pyridyl ketone chemistry: synthetic, structural and spectroscopic studies

The use of di-2-pyridyl ketone, (py)2CO, in zinc(II) nitrate chemistry has yielded a dinuclear complex and a cationic tetranuclear cluster. The 1:1 Zn(NO3)2.4H2O/(py)2CO reaction system in EtOH gives [Zn2(NO3)2{(py)2C(OEt)O}2].0.5H2O (1.0.5H2O), whereas the same reaction system in MeCN yields [Zn4(NO3)3{(py)2C(OH)O}4(H2O)](NO3) (2). The monoanionic derivatives of the hemiacetal and the gem-diol forms of di-2-pyridyl ketone have been derived from the ZnII-mediated addition of solvent (EtOH, H2O involved in MeCN) on the carbonyl group of (py)2CO. Each (py)2C(OEt)O- ion functions as an eta1:eta2:eta1:mu2 ligand in 1.0.5H2O chelating the two ZnII atoms through the 2-pyridyl nitrogen atoms and the common bridging, deprotonated oxygen atom; one asymmetric chelating nitrate completes six coordination at each metal center. The tetranuclear cluster cation of 2 has a cubane topology with the ZnII ions and the deprotonated oxygen atoms from the four eta1:eta3:eta1:mu3 (py)2C(OH)O- ligands occupying alternate vertices. Three monodentate nitrates and one aqua ligand complete the sixth coordination site at the metal ions. The two complexes have been characterized by IR and far-IR spectroscopies. Characteristic bands are discussed in terms of the known structures and the coordination modes of the nitrato ligands. Upon excitation at 371 nm, complex 2 displays blue photoluminescence in the solid state at room temperature with two emission maxima at 430 and 455 nm.

Structures and Magnetic Properties of Tetranuclear Nickel(II) Complexes with Unusual ?3-1,1,3 Azido Bridges

Pyrazolate-based dinucleating ligands with thioether-containing chelate arms have been used for the synthesis of a family of novel tetranuclear nickel(II) complexes [L2Ni4(N3)3(O2CR)](ClO4)2 that incorporate three azido bridges and one carboxylate (R = Me, Ph). Molecular structures have been elucidated by X-ray crystallography in four cases, revealing Ni4 cores with a unique topology in which two of the azido ligands adopt an unusual mu3-1,1,3 bridging mode. The compounds were further characterized by mass spectrometry, IR spectroscopy, and variable-temperature magnetic susceptibility measurements. Magnetic data analyses indicate a combination of significant intramolecular ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic exchange interactions that give rise to an overall S(T) = 0 ground state. The sign and the magnitude of the individual couplings have been rationalized in the framework of the common magnetostructural correlations for end-to-end and end-on azido linkages, suggesting that these correlations also remain valid for the respective fragments of multiply bridging mu3-1,1,3 azido ligands.