Strong Ferromagnetic Exchange Interactions in Hinge-like Dy(O2Cu)2 Complexes Involving Double Oxygen Bridges

Tuning spin dynamics of binuclear Dy complexes using different nitroxide biradical derivatives

By employing nitronyl/imino nitroxide biradicals, three Ln-Zn complexes, namely, [Ln2Zn2(hfac)10(ImPhPyobis)2] (LnIII = Gd 1, Dy 2; hfac = hexafluoroacetylacetonate; ImPhPyobis = 5-(4-oxypyridinium-1-yl)-1,3-bis(1'-oxyl-4',4',5',5'-tetramethyl-4,5-hydro-1H-imidazol-2-yl)benzene) and [Dy2Zn2(hfac)10(NITPhPyobis)2] 3 (NITPhPyobis = 5-(4-oxypyridinium-1-yl)-1,3-bis(1'-oxyl-3'-oxido-4',4',5',5'-tetramethyl-4,5-hydro-1H-imidazol-2-yl)benzene), have been successfully prepared. The three complexes possess {Ln2O2} cores bridged by the oxygen atoms of the 4-oxypyridinium rings of the biradical ligands and one of the imino/nitronyl nitroxide groups of the biradical is coordinated to a ZnII ion, then producing a centrosymmetric tetranuclear six-spin structure. The studies of spin dynamics indicate that complexes 2 and 3 exhibit distinct magnetic relaxation behaviors at zero dc field: complex 2 presents single relaxation with an effective energy barrier (Ueff) of 69.8 K, while complex 3 exhibits double relaxation processes with Ueff values for the fast and slow relaxation being 15.8 K and 50.9 K, respectively. The observed different magnetic relaxation behaviors for the two Dy complexes could be mainly ascribed to the influence of the distinct nitroxide biradical derivatives.

Cu(II)-Ln(III) (Ln = Gd, Tb and Dy) complexes of an unsymmetrical N2O3 donor ligand: field induced SMM behaviour of Cu(II)-Tb(III) complexes

Three new hetero-metallic CuII-LnIII complexes [(CuL)Gd(NO3)3(CH3OH)]n (1), [(CuL)Tb(NO3)3(H2O)]·[CuL] (2) and [(CuL)Dy(NO3)3(H2O)]·[CuL] (3) have been synthesized using a mono-nuclear Cu(II) complex, [CuL], of an unsymmetrically di-condensed N2O3 donor Schiff base ligand, N-(3-methoxysalicylidene)-N-(salicylidene)-1,2-ethylenediamine (H2L). Single crystal X-ray crystallography revealed that complex 1 is a nitrate bridged 1D chain of dinuclear Cu(II)-Gd(III) units whereas in 2 and 3, the dinuclear Cu(II)-Ln(III) units are co-crystallized with a [CuL] unit. The Ln(III) centers are nine coordinated with the geometry of a spherical capped square antiprism for Gd and spherical tricapped trigonal prism for Tb and Dy. The geometry of the Cu(II) center is distorted octahedral for complex 1 and distorted square planar for complexes 2 and 3. Temperature-dependent molar magnetic susceptibility measurements in 1-3 revealed the presence of overall ferromagnetic coupling between the Cu(II) and Ln(III) centers. Notably, field induced single-molecule magnet behavior was witnessed in the Tb(III) derivative (2). The ab initio calculations indicated that upon application of an external magnetic field, the tunneling in the ground state of complex 2 gets reduced and thereby field-induced SMM behaviour is observed. Besides, in the case of complex 1, BS-DFT calculations were carried out to gain further insights into the magnetic exchange coupling interactions between the Cu(II) and Gd(III) centers.

Insight into ferromagnetic interactions in CuII-LnIII dimers with a compartmental ligand

In the last two decades, efforts have been devoted to obtaining insight into the magnetic interactions between CuII and LnIII utilizing experimental and theoretical means. Experimentally, it has been observed that the exchange coupling (J) in CuII-LnIII systems is often found to be ferromagnetic for ≥4f7 metal ions. However, exchange interactions at sub-Kelvin temperatures between CuII and the anisotropic/isotropic LnIII ions are not often explored. In this report, we have synthesized a series of heterobimetallic [CuLn(HL)(μ-piv)(piv)2] complexes (LnIII = Gd (1), Tb (2), Dy (3) and Er (4)) from a new compartmental Schiff base ligand, N,N'-bis(3-methoxy-5-methylsalicylidene)-1,3-diamino-2-propanol (H3L). X-ray crystallographic analysis reveals that all four complexes are isostructural and isomorphous. Magnetic susceptibility measurements reveal a ferromagnetic coupling between the CuII ion and its respective LnIII ion for all the complexes, as often observed. Moreover, μ-SQUID studies, at sub-Kelvin temperatures, show S-shaped hysteresis loops indicating the presence of antiferromagnetic coupling in complexes 1-3. The antiferromagnetic interaction is explained by considering the shortest Cu⋯Cu distance in the crystal structure. The nearly closed loops for 1-3 highlight their fast relaxation characteristics, while the opened loops for 4 might arise from intermolecular ordering. CASSCF calculations allow the quantitative assessment of the interactions, which are further supported by BS-DFT calculations.

Heterometallic Hexanuclear [Cu2 Ln4 ] Complexes Showing Zero-field SMM Behaviour and Magnetocaloric Effect

Three heterometallic hexanuclear 3d-4f complexes bearing the formula [Cu₂ (L)₂ Ln₄ (L)₄ (o-van)₂ ] [L=2-((E)-((2-hydroxyphenyl)imino]methyl)phenol; o-van=ortho-vanillin] (Ln^III =Gd^III (1), Dy^III (2), and Tb^III (3)) have been synthesized and characterized. DC magnetic susceptibility measurements reveal overall antiferromagnetic interactions in 1 and 3, whereas co-existence of ferro- as well as antiferromagnetic interactions were observed in 2. The magnetocaloric effect has been observed for 1 with an entropy change (-ΔS_m ) of 22.3 J kg^-1  K^-1 at 3 K and 7 T. Zero-field single molecule magnet (SMM) behaviour has been observed for 2, where Raman relaxation and quantum tunneling of magnetization (QTM) played a role in magnetization relaxation. The Cu-O-Ln angle well explains the magnetic exchange coupling occurring in the complexes. BS-DFT calculation for the complexes provides an estimate of the exchange interactions between the paramagnetic centres. Ab initio calculations performed for complex 2 established a good correlation to the experimental relaxation dynamics.

Experimental and theoretical insights into Co-Ln magnetic exchange and the rare slow-magnetic relaxation behavior of [CoII2Pr]2+ in a series of linear [CoII2Ln]2+ complexes

We herein report a series of near-linear trinuclear complexes [Co₂Ln(HL)₄(NO₃)](NO₃)₂ (where HL = (2-methoxy-6-[(E)-2'-hydroxymethyl-phenyliminomethyl]-phenolate) with Ln(III) = La (1), Ce (2), Pr (3)). For the comparative study, we have also included the recently reported analogous complexes of Gd(III), Tb(III), and Dy(III) (complexes 4-6) with the same H₂L ligand. The experimental nature of the dc magnetic susceptibilities profile and an empirical approach revealed that the magnetic exchange interaction between Co(II) and Ln(III) having <4f⁷ (complexes 2 and 3) is antiferromagnetic while the dominant interaction between Co(II) and Ln(III) having ≥4f⁷ (complexes 4-6) is ferromagnetic. Dynamic magnetic relaxation studies on complexes 1-3 revealed the field induced single-molecule magnetic (SMM) behavior of 1 and 3 with effective energy barriers of 10.65 K and 15.03 K respectively, for magnetic relaxation. To the best of our knowledge, 3d-Pr(III) based zero or field induced SMMs have not been reported to date. CASSCF/SO-RASSI/SINGLE_ANISO based ab initio calculations on the X-ray structures of complexes 1-6, followed by POLY_ANISO simulations, estimated the magnetic exchange coupling constants J_Co-Ln and J_Co-Co and also rationalized our experimental findings for the dynamic magnetic properties.

Lanthanide induced variability in localised CoII geometries of four triangular L3Co3 IILnIII complexes

Four tetranuclear heterobimetallic triangle complexes [L3Co3Dy(NO3)2(H2O)(MeOH)5](NO3) (C1), [L3Co3Gd(NO3)3(MeOH)4] (C2), [L3Co3La(NO3)2(H2O)6](NO3)(H2O) (C3), and [L3Co3TbCl(NO3)2(H2O)0.5(MeOH)3.5] (C4), where H2L = 1,4-bisformylnaphthalene-2,3-diol, have been synthesised and structurally characterised. Each complex crystallises with a complete molecule in the asymmetric unit (Z' = 1) and displays near perfect octahedrality in two out of three CoII centres. The third CoII ion assumes a different coordination geometry in each complex: six-coordinate octahedral in C1, six-coordinate with a distortion towards trigonal prismatic in C2, five-coordinate trigonal bipyramidal in C3, and five-coordinate square pyramidal in C4; which has been attributed to increasing lanthanide cation size, coupled with a non-macrocyclic coordination environment. Continuous Shape Measurement (CShM) calculations and octahedral distortion parameter calculations were performed, using the SHAPE and OctaDist software packages, respectively, in order to aid in the assessment of each metal centre's local coordination geometry. The preliminary magnetic investigation of C3 found χ m T = 9.4 cm3 K mol-1 at 300 K and M = 7.1 μ B at 1.8 K, which are approximately two thirds the maximum theoretical values for three CoII ions and indicates the presence of a relatively large zero-field splitting parameter (D/k B = 65 K) operative in each CoII ion rather than exchange coupling between the CoII centres.

Pentanuclear MII–MnII (M = Ni and Cu) complexes of N2O2 donor ligands with a variation of carboxylate anions: syntheses, structures, magnetic properties and catecholase-like activities

One NiII2MnII3 and two CuII2MnII3 complexes have been synthesized using N2O2 donor ligands. The former complex exhibits spin crossover at 2 K temperature. All the complexes exhibit catecholase-like activities.

Family of Isomeric CuII-LnIII (Ln = Gd, Tb, and Dy) Complexes Presenting Field-Induced Slow Relaxation of Magnetization Only for the Members Containing GdIII

The strategic design and synthesis of two isomeric Cu^II complexes, [CuL^A] and [CuL^B], of asymmetrically dicondensed N₂O₃-donor Schiff-base ligands (where H₂L^A and H₂L^B are N-salicylidene-N'-3-methoxysalicylidenepropane-1,2-diamine and N-3-methoxysalicylidene-N'-salicylidenepropane-1,2-diamine, respectively) have been accomplished via a convenient Cu^II template method. These two complexes have been used as metalloligands for the synthesis of three pairs of Cu-Ln isomeric complexes [CuL(μ-NO₃)Ln(NO₃)₂(H₂O)]·CH₃CN (for complexes 1A-3A, L = L^A, and for complexes 1B-3B, L = L^B and Ln = Gd, Tb, and Dy, respectively), all of which have been characterized structurally. In all six isomorphous and isostructural complexes, the decacoordinated Ln^III centers and pentacoordinated Cu^II centers possess sphenocorona and square-pyramidal geometries, respectively. The isomeric pair of Cu-Gd compounds shows field-induced slow relaxation of magnetization, although they present the typical isotropic behavior of Gd^III complexes, indicating that slow relaxation is not due to the usual energy barrier originating from the magnetic anisotropy. The isostructural derivatives with the ion-anisotropic lanthanides Tb^III and Dy^III do not show slow magnetic relaxation with or without a direct-current bias field, demonstrating that the magnetic response of the isotropic system Cu^II-Gd^III occurs through different mechanisms than the rest of the Ln cations.

Change in molecular shapes of the trinuclear CuII2ZnII complexes on Schiff base reduction: structural and theoretical investigations

Structural analyses and theoretical studies of two new Cu₂Zn compounds and other analogous species established that subtle modification in a ligand system can stabilize various structures with versatile coordinating azide ion and flexible trinuclear core.

Modulation of Nuclearity in CuII -MnII Complexes of a N2 O2 Donor Ligand Depending upon Carboxylate Anions: Structures, Magnetic Properties and Catalytic Oxidase Activities

Three new hetero-metallic copper(II)-manganese(II) complexes, [(CuL)₂ Mn₃ (C₆ H₅ CO₂ )₆ ] (1), [(CuL)₂ Mn(CH₃ CO₂ )₂ ] (2), and {[(CuL)₂ Mn(C₆ H₅ CH₂ CO₂ )₂ ] ⋅ 2CH₃ CN} (3), have been synthesized using [CuL] as ''metalloligand'' (where H₂ L=N,N'-bis(2-hydroxynaphthyl-methylidene)-1,3-propanediamine). Single-crystal structural analyses show an almost linear penta-nuclear structure for complex 1 where a square planar [CuL] unit is connected to each of the two terminal Mn^II ions of a linear, centrosymmetric [Mn₃ (benzoate)₆ ] unit through the double phenoxido bridges. Both complexes 2 and 3 possess a linear tri-nuclear structure where two terminal square-pyramidal [CuL] units are bonded to the central Mn^II ion through double phenoxido oxygen atoms along with a syn-syn bridging acetate (for 2)/phenyl acetate (for 3). All three complexes exhibit catecholase, and phenoxazinone synthase-like activities under aerial conditions. For catecholase like activity, the turnover numbers (k_cat ) are 595, 40, and 205 h^-1 whereas, for phenoxazinone synthase like activity, the turnover numbers are 25, 4, and 11 h^-1 for complexes 1-3, respectively. The mechanism of both catalytic oxidase activities is proposed on the basis of mass spectral evidences. Variable-temperature (2-300 K) dc molar magnetic susceptibility measurements of 1 reveal antiferromagnetic interactions between the Cu-Mn centres (J₁ =-29.3 cm^-1 ), and also between the Mn-Mn centres of the [Mn₃ (benzoate)₆ ] unit (J₂ =-0.68 cm^-1 ). On increasing the magnetic field at 2 K, its ground spin state changes from S=3/2 to S=5/2 at 4 T, attributable to the low value of J₂ which makes the excited spin states close in energy with the ground spin state. Complexes 2 and 3 show antiferromagnetic coupling interactions between the Cu-Mn pairs with J values of -9.51, and -5.32 cm^-1 , respectively.

Roles of basicity and steric crowding of anionic coligands in catechol oxidase-like activity of Cu(ii)-Mn(ii) complexes

Five new heterometallic Cu(ii)-Mn(ii) discrete trinuclear complexes, [(CuL)2Mn(CH3COO)2] (1), [(CuL)2Mn(NO3)2] (2), [(CuL)2Mn(C6H5COO)(H2O)]Cl (3), [(CuL)2Mn((p-OH)C6H5COO)(H2O)]ClO4 (4) and [(CuL)2Mn(HCOO)(H2O)]ClO4 (5), have been synthesized using a metalloligand, CuL derived from an N2O2 donor Schiff base, H2L (N,N'-bis(α-methylsalicylidene)-1,3-propanediamine). Single-crystal structural analyses reveal that all five complexes have a common [(CuL)2Mn] core, where two terminal metalloligands, CuL, are connected to the central metal ion, Mn(ii), via double phenoxido bridges. Among the complexes, 1 and 2 possess linear structures where the terminal Cu(ii) atoms are bridged to the central Mn(ii) atoms by acetate and nitrate ions, respectively along with the double phenoxido bridges, whereas 3, 4 and 5 have bent structures in which the respective anionic coligands, benzoate, p-hydroxybenzoate and formate ions are coordinated only to central Mn(ii) in monodentate fashion along with a water molecule that completes its hexa-coordinated geometry. Among the complexes, 1, 3, 4 and 5 show quite high bio-mimicking catecholase-like activity for the aerial oxidation of 3,5-di-tert-butylcatechol with turnover numbers (Kcat) of 139 h-1, 439 h-1, 348 h-1 and 730 h-1, respectively, whereas complex 2 is practically inactive towards this reaction. The presence of the coordinated water molecule to Mn(ii) in the bent complexes, 3-5, appears to be responsible for their high catalytic activity and the difference in their activity may be attributed to steric crowding due to the anionic coligand, whereas the inactivity of 2 seems to be associated with the low basicity of the nitrate ion. The temperature-dependent dc molar magnetic susceptibility measurements reveal that complexes 1-5 are antiferromagnetically coupled with the exchange coupling constants (J) = -8.54 cm-1, -11.50 cm-1, -19.83 cm-1, -10.65 cm-1 and -10.27 cm-1 for 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively as is expected from the Cu-O-Mn bridging angles.

Modulating the structural topologies and magnetic relaxation behaviour of the Mn–Dy compounds by using different auxiliary organic ligands

A MnIII4Dy^III complex and a one-dimensional chain containing MnIII2Dy^III units have been obtained by using different combinations of organic ligands, and a slow magnetic relaxation behavior was observed for both complexes.

SMM behaviour of heterometallic dinuclear CuIILnIII (Ln = Tb and Dy) complexes derived from N2O3 donor unsymmetrical ligands

Four heterometallic dinuclear Cu^IILn^III (Ln = Tb and Dy) complexes derived from two different N₂O₃ donor unsymmetrical Schiff base ligands exhibit SMM behaviour.

M, Ahmad M, Shahid M. Synthesis, characterization, theoretical studies and catecholase like activities of [MO6] type complexes

Co(ii) and Zn(ii) complexes are prepared and characterized through spectral, crystallographic and theoretical studies. The Co(ii) complex is shown to be a catechol oxidase mimic and the activity is corroborated by DFT results.

Elucidating the secondary effect in the Lewis acid mediated anodic shift of electrochemical oxidation of a Cu(ii) complex with a N2O2 donor unsymmetrical ligand

The causes behind the fluctuations from a linear dependence of the electrochemical signal of a guest bound metalloligand [CuL] with the Lewis acidity of redox-inactive cations were established by using UV-vis spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry.

The role of 3d–4f exchange interaction in SMM behaviour and magnetic refrigeration of carbonato bridged CuII2LnIII2 (Ln = Dy, Tb and Gd) complexes of an unsymmetrical N2O4 donor ligand

The role of exchange interaction between Cu(ii) and Ln(iii) ions in SMM behaviour and magnetocaloric effects has been extensively investigated by both experimental and theoretical CASSCF/RASSI-SO/SINGLE_ANISO methods.

A series of CuII–LnIII complexes of an N2O3 donor asymmetric ligand and a possible CuII–TbIII SMM candidate in no bias field

Among four isostructural heterometallic Cu^II–Ln^III complexes (Ln = Tb, Dy, Ho or Er) of an N₂O₃ donor asymmetric ligand, only the Cu^II–Tb^III complex shows SMM behavior at zero bias field but at applied bias field both the Cu^II–Tb^III and Cu^II–Dy^III complexes show SMM behavior.

Rare azido and hydroxido bridged tetranuclear Co(ii) complexes of a polynucleating Mannich base ligand with a defect dicubane core: structures, magnetism and phenoxazinone synthase like activity

Triply azido/hydroxido bridged defect dicubane tetranuclear Co(ii) complexes of a Mannich base ligand show ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic coupling and phenoxazinone synthase like activity.

Mixed azido/phenoxido bridged trinuclear Cu(ii) complexes of Mannich bases: Synthesis, structures, magnetic properties and catalytic oxidase activities

Three mixed azido/phenoxido bridged trinuclear Cu(ii) complexes of tetradentate Mannich base ligands, synthesised by a metalloligand approach show antiferromagnetic coupling and significant catecholase and phenoxazinone synthase like activities.

Control of nuclearity in heterometallic CuII–MnIIcomplexes derived from asymmetric Schiff bases: structures and magnetic properties

Among three asymmetric Schiff bases used for the synthesis of heterometallic Cu^II–Mn^IIcomplexes, the one with N₂O₂donor atoms yielded a tetranuclear and a trinuclear complex whereas two N₂O₃donor ligands produced solely dinuclear complexes. The results of magnetic measurements have been justified by DFT study.

Tri- and hexa-nuclear NiII–MnII complexes of a N2O2 donor unsymmetrical ligand: synthesis, structures, magnetic properties and catalytic oxidase activities

Among two trinuclear and a hexanuclear Ni^II–Mn^II complexes, synthesized by using a Ni(ii) metalloligand of a N₂O₂ donor unsymmetrical ligand, only those containing a H₂O molecule coordinated to the Mn^II center show very high catalytic oxidase activities.

Strictly linear trinuclear Dy-Ca/Mg-Dy single-molecule magnets: the impact of long-range f-f ferromagnetic interactions on suppressing quantum tunnelling of magnetization leading to slow magnetic relaxation

The synthesis, structural characterization and magnetic properties of four heterometallic complexes with formulas Ln₂M(OQ)₈ [Ln(iii) = Dy, M(ii) = Ca (1), Mg (2); Ln(iii) = Er, M(ii) = Ca (3), Mg (4); HOQ = 8-hydroxyquinoline] are reported. Complexes display a perfectly linear arrangement of three metal ions involving two terminal Ln(iii) ions and one central alkaline earth M(ii) ion, and they are bridged by three phenolato oxygen atoms from three 8-hydroxyquinoline ligands. Direct-current (dc) magnetic susceptibility studies show that there exists a long-range ferromagnetic (FM) interaction between two f-electronic centers in Dy-based complexes 1 and 2 albeit they are separated by diamagnetic alkaline earth ions, and the FM interaction has been successfully reproduced by ab initio calculations. Alternating current (ac) magnetic susceptibility measurements indicate that complexes 1 and 2 exhibit significant single-molecule magnet (SMM) behaviors. This is mostly attributed to the parallel magnetic axes of individual Dy(iii) sites aligning closely to the Dy-M-Dy direction, and the linearly extending magnetic susceptibility tensors of each ion lead to the FM interaction. The dc and ac susceptibility studies of the intramolecularly diluted complexes reveal that the f-f coupling suppresses the QTMs significantly in the absence of the external magnetic field.

Structural variations in (CuL)2Ln complexes of a series of lanthanide ions with a salen-type unsymmetrical Schiff base(H2L): Dy and Tb derivatives as potential single-molecule magnets

Five heterometallic Cu₂Ln complexes (Ln = Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho and Er) have been synthesized using asymmetric Schiff base ligand. Among these, Cu₂Tb and Cu₂Dy complexes show field induced SMM behaviour.