Direct Synthesis of Spin‐Crossover Complexes: An Unexpectedly Revealed New Iron‐Triazolic Structure

Spontaneous Synthesis of [FeII (Atrz)3 ]SO4 and its Analogues Through Accelerated Ageing: New Insights from Small-Scale Reactions

Accelerated ageing reactions that take place between two solid materials on contact in the absence of added solvent have been used to synthesize two spin-crossover-active 1D coordination polymers and one of their Cu(II) analogues. The hygroscopy of the ligands and the relative humidity of the reaction chamber have been shown to be particularly important factors in the rate of reaction. Small-scale reactions between a few individual crystals have allowed observation of deliquescence of the 4-aminotriazole ligand at high humidity. The metal salt does not dissolve, and the ligand diffuses into the crystal of the metal salt during the reaction. In the case of the Cu analogue, the formation of the product causes the crystal of the metal salt to deform with the formation of pseudocrystals, which have a fibrous structure.

Cooperative Spin Crossover above Room Temperature in the Iron(II) Cyanoborohydride-Pyrazine Complex

Hysteretic spin crossover in coordination complexes of 3d-metal ions represents one of the most spectacular phenomena of molecular bistability. In this paper we describe a self-assembly of pyrazine (pz) and Fe(BH₃CN)₂ that afforded the new 2D coordination polymer [Fe(pz)₂(BH₃CN)₂]_∞. It undergoes an abrupt, hysteretic spin crossover (SCO) with a T_1/2 of 338 K (heating) and 326 K (cooling) according to magnetic susceptibility measurements. Mössbauer spectroscopy revealed a complete transition between the low-spin (LS) and the high-spin (HS) states of the iron centers. This LS-to-HS transition induced an increase of the unit cell volume by 10.6%. Meanwhile, a modulation of multiple [C-H^δ+···H^δ--B] dihydrogen bonds stimulates a contraction in direction c (2.2%). The simplicity of the synthesis, mild temperatures of transition, a pronounced thermochromism, stability upon thermal cycling, a striking volume expansion upon SCO, and an easy processability to composite films make this new complex an attractive material for switchable components of diverse applications.

Thermal hysteresis of stress and strain in spin-crossover@polymer composites: towards a rational design of actuator devices

Polymer composites of molecular spin crossover complexes have emerged as promising mechanical actuator materials, but their effective thermomechanical properties remain elusive. In this work, we investigated a series of iron(ii)-triazole@P(VDF-TrFE) particulate composites using a tensile testing stage with temperature control. From these measurements, we assessed the temperature dependence of the Young's modulus as well as the free deformation and blocking stress, associated with the thermally-induced spin transition. The results denote that the expansion of the particles at the spin transition is effectively transferred to the macroscopic composite material, providing ca. 1-3% axial strain for 25% particle load. This strain is in excess of the 'neat' particle strain, which we attribute to particle-matrix mechanical coupling. On the other hand, the blocking stress (∼1 MPa) appears reduced by the softening of the composite around the spin transition temperature.

1D iron(II)-1,2,4-triazolic chains with spin crossover assembled from discrete trinuclear complexes

We report on a molecular cationic iron(II) complex with a 4-amino-1,2,4-triazole ligand and a tetraiodomercurate anion exhibiting an incomplete spin crossover (SCO). The complex exhibits an unusual disordered structure with a linear arrangement of ligand and water molecules that can potentially accommodate up to four iron atoms, but both terminal metal positions have half chemical occupancies, while occupancies of all ligands are full. This corresponds to the crystallisation of disordered trinuclear complexes arranged into 1D supramolecular chains. Iron cations have different N₆ or N₃O₃ coordination environments, leading to the thermally induced SCO in two thirds of the metal centres. This SCO behaviour was characterised by magnetic susceptibility measurements and Mössbauer spectroscopy.

Crystal structure and Hirshfeld surface analysis of di-μ-chlorido-bis-[(aceto-nitrile-κN)chlorido-(ethyl 5-methyl-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxyl-ate-κ2 N 2,O)copper(II)]

The title compound, [Cu2Cl4(C5H10N2O2)2(CH3CN)2] or [Cu2(μ2-Cl)2(CH3-Pz-COOCH2CH3)2Cl2(CH3CN)2], was synthesized using a one-pot reaction of copper powder, copper(II) chloride dihydrate and ethyl 5-methyl-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxyl-ate (CH3-Pz-COOCH2CH3) in aceto-nitrile under ambient conditions. This complex consists of discrete binuclear mol-ecules with a {Cu2(μ2-Cl)2} core, in which the Cu⋯Cu distance is 3.8002 (7) Å. The pyrazole-based ligands are bidentate coordinated, leading to the formation of two five-membered chelate rings. The coordination geometry of both copper atoms (ON2Cl3) can be described as distorted octa-hedral on account of the aceto-nitrile coordination. A Hirshfeld surface analysis suggests that the most important contributions to the surface contacts are from H⋯H (40%), H⋯Cl/Cl⋯H (24.3%), H⋯O/O⋯H (11.8%), H⋯C/C⋯H (9.2%) and H⋯N/N⋯H (8.3%) inter-actions.

Rational direct synthesis of [Fe(Htrz)2(trz)](BF4) polymorphs: temperature and concentration effects

Rational design of [Fe(Htrz)₂trz](BF₄) spin crossover (SCO) polymorphs through the study of the phase diagram and structure refinement.