Femtosecond Infrared Spectroscopy Resolving the Multiplicity of High-Spin Crossover States in Transition Metal Iron Complexes

Tuning the photophysical properties of iron-based transition-metal complexes is crucial for their employment as photosensitizers in solar energy conversion. For the optimization of these new complexes, a detailed understanding of the excited-state deactivation paths is necessary. Here, we report femtosecond transient mid-IR spectroscopy data on a recently developed octahedral ligand-field enhancing [Fe(dqp)2]2+ (C1) complex with dqp = 2,6-diquinolylpyridine and prototypical [Fe(bpy)3]2+ (C0). By combining mid-IR spectroscopy with quantum chemical DFT calculations, we propose a method for disentangling the 5Q1 and 3T1 multiplicities of the long-lived metal-centered (MC) states, applicable to a variety of metal-organic iron complexes. Our results for C0 align well with the established assignment toward the 5Q1, validating our approach. For C1, we find that deactivation of the initially excited metal-to-ligand charge-transfer state leads to a population of a long-lived MC 5Q1 state. Analysis of transient changes in the mid-IR shows an ultrafast sub 200 fs rearrangement of ligand geometry for both complexes, accompanying the MLCT → MC deactivation. This confirms that the flexibility in the ligand sphere supports the stabilization of high spin states and plays a crucial role in the MLCT lifetime of metal-organic iron complexes.

Toward High-Temperature Light-Induced Spin-State Trapping in Spin-Crossover Materials: The Interplay of Collective and Molecular Effects

Spin-crossover (SCO) materials display many fascinating behaviors including collective phase transitions and spin-state switching controlled by external stimuli, e.g., light and electrical currents. As single-molecule switches, they have been fêted for numerous practical applications, but these remain largely unrealized-partly because of the difficulty of switching these materials at high temperatures. We introduce a semiempirical microscopic model of SCO materials combining crystal field theory with elastic intermolecular interactions. For realistic parameters, this model reproduces the key experimental results including thermally induced phase transitions, light-induced spin-state trapping (LIESST), and reverse-LIESST. Notably, we reproduce and explain the experimentally observed relationship between the critical temperature of the thermal transition, T_1/2, and the highest temperature for which the trapped state is stable, T_LIESST, and explain why increasing the stiffness of the coordination sphere increases T_LIESST. We propose strategies to design SCO materials with higher T_LIESST: optimizing the spin-orbit coupling via heavier atoms (particularly in the inner coordination sphere) and minimizing the enthalpy difference between the high-spin (HS) and low-spin (LS) states. However, the most dramatic increases arise from increasing the cooperativity of the spin-state transition by increasing the rigidity of the crystal. Increased crystal rigidity can also stabilize the HS state to low temperatures on thermal cycling yet leave the LS state stable at high temperatures following, for example, reverse-LIESST. We show that such highly cooperative systems offer a realistic route to robust room-temperature switching, demonstrate this in silico, and discuss material design rationale to realize this.

Towards Iron(II) Complexes with Octahedral Geometry: Synthesis, Structure and Photophysical Properties

The control of ligand-field splitting in iron (II) complexes is critical to slow down the metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT)-excited states deactivation pathways. The gap between the metal-centered states is maximal when the coordination sphere of the complex approaches an ideal octahedral geometry. Two new iron(II) complexes (C1 and C2), prepared from pyridylNHC and pyridylquinoline type ligands, respectively, have a near-perfect octahedral coordination of the metal. The photophysics of the complexes have been further investigated by means of ultrafast spectroscopy and TD-DFT modeling. For C1, it is shown that-despite the geometrical improvement-the excited state deactivation is faster than for the parent pseudo-octahedral C0 complex. This unexpected result is due to the increased ligand flexibility in C1 that lowers the energetic barrier for the relaxation of 3MLCT into the 3MC state. For C2, the effect of the increased ligand field is not strong enough to close the prominent deactivation channel into the metal-centered quintet state, as for other Fe-polypyridine complexes.

Tracking the Light-Induced Excited-State Dynamics and Structural Configurations of an Extraordinarily Long-Lived Metastable State at Room Temperature

Time-resolved X-ray (Tr-XAS) and optical transient absorption (OTA) spectroscopy on the pico-microsecond timescale coupled with density functional theory calculations are applied to study the light-induced spin crossover processes of a Fe-based macrocyclic complex in solution. Tr-XAS analysis after light illumination shows the formation of a seven-coordinated high-spin quintet metastable state, which relaxes to a six-coordinated high-spin configuration before decaying to the ground state. Kinetic analysis of the macrocyclic complex reveals an unprecedented long-lived decay lifetime of approximately 42.6 μs. Comparative studies with a non-macrocyclic counterpart illustrate a significantly shortened approximately 568-fold decay lifetime of about 75 ns, and highlight the importance of the ligand arrangement in stabilizing the reactivity of the excited state. Lastly, OTA analysis shows the seven-coordinated high-spin state to be formed within approximately 6.2 ps. These findings provide a complete understanding of the spin crossover reaction and relaxation pathways of the macrocyclic complex, and reveal the importance of a flexible coordination environment for their rational design.

Exploring the light-induced dynamics in solvated metallogrid complexes with femtosecond pulses across the electromagnetic spectrum

Oligonuclear complexes of d⁴-d⁷ transition metal ion centers that undergo spin-switching have long been developed for their practical role in molecular electronics. Recently, they also have appeared as promising photochemical reactants demonstrating improved stability. However, the lack of knowledge about their photophysical properties in the solution phase compared to mononuclear complexes is currently hampering their inclusion into advanced light-driven reactions. In the present study, the ultrafast photoinduced dynamics in a solvated [2 × 2] iron(II) metallogrid complex are characterized by combining measurements with transient optical-infrared absorption and x-ray emission spectroscopy on the femtosecond time scale. The analysis is supported by density functional theory calculations. The photocycle can be described in terms of intra-site transitions, where the Fe^II centers in the low-spin state are independently photoexcited. The Franck-Condon state decays via the formation of a vibrationally hot high-spin (HS) state that displays coherent behavior within a few picoseconds and thermalizes within tens of picoseconds to yield a metastable HS state living for several hundreds of nanoseconds. Systematic comparison with the closely related mononuclear complex [Fe(terpy)₂]²⁺ reveals that nuclearity has a profound impact on the photoinduced dynamics. More generally, this work provides guidelines for expanding the integration of oligonuclear complexes into new photoconversion schemes that may be triggered by ultrafast spin-switching.

Direct observation of nuclear reorganization driven by ultrafast spin transitions

One of the most basic molecular photophysical processes is that of spin transitions and intersystem crossing between excited states surfaces. The change in spin states affects the spatial distribution of electron density through the spin orbit coupling interaction. The subsequent nuclear reorganization reports on the full extent of the spin induced change in electron distribution, which can be treated similarly to intramolecular charge transfer with effective reaction coordinates depicting the spin transition. Here, single-crystal [Fe^II(bpy)₃](PF₆)₂, a prototypical system for spin crossover (SCO) dynamics, is studied using ultrafast electron diffraction in the single-photon excitation regime. The photoinduced SCO dynamics are resolved, revealing two distinct processes with a (450 ± 20)-fs fast component and a (2.4 ± 0.4)-ps slow component. Using principal component analysis, we uncover the key structural modes, ultrafast Fe–N bond elongations coupled with ligand motions, that define the effective reaction coordinate to fully capture the relevant molecular reorganization.

Electron spin is a fundamental property of molecules, and changes in spin state affect both molecular structure and dynamics. Here, the authors resolve, by ultrafast electron diffraction, the nuclear reorganization stabilizing spin transitions in a [Fe^II(bpy)₃](PF₆)₂ crystal.

Reproducing absorption spectra of pH indicators from RGB values of microscopic images

Absorption spectra of pH indicators in aqueous solutions were reproduced from RGB values of microscopic images utilizing principal component analysis (PCA) and linear algebraic treatments. The reproduction of absorption spectra comprises the following three steps: (1) determining the loading spectra by PCA, (2) determining the conversion matrix from the RGB values to the score vectors, and (3) reproducing the absorption spectra by linear combination of the loading spectra and the score vectors. The reproducibility of the absorption spectra was demonstrated by employing bromothymol blue and methyl red solutions as pH indicators. The reproduced spectra of both indicators were in good agreement with the spectra measured with a conventional spectrophotometer. The pK_a values of both indicators calculated from the reproduced spectra are in good agreement with those obtained from the spectrophotometric spectra and the literature values, confirming validity of the reproduction. This approach was applied to measure pH of freeze concentrated solutions in micro drains formed in ice. A change in pH was successfully observed on freezing and was compared with that reported in previous literature. Since this method does not necessitate the use of grating systems, spectral changes can be traced in milliseconds; this elucidates the phenomena occurring in fluctuating fields.

Revealing Hot and Long-Lived Metastable Spin States in the Photoinduced Switching of Solvated Metallogrid Complexes with Femtosecond Optical and X-ray Spectroscopies

An atomistic understanding of the photoinduced spin-state switching (PSS) within polynuclear systems of d⁴-d⁷ transition metal ion complexes is required for their rational integration into light-driven reactions of chemical and biological interest. However, in contrast to mononuclear systems, the multidimensional dynamics of the PSS in solvated molecular arrays have not yet been elucidated due to the expected complications associated with the connectivity between the metal centers and the strong interactions with the surroundings. In this work, the PSS in a solvated triiron(II) metallogrid complex is characterized using transient optical absorption and X-ray emission spectroscopies on the femtosecond time scale. The complementary measurements reveal the photoinduced creation of energy-rich (hot) and long-lived quintet states, whose dynamics differ critically from their mononuclear congeners. This finding opens major prospects for developing novel schemes in solution-phase spin chemistry that are driven by the dynamic PSS process in compact oligometallic arrays.

Spin-state dependence of the structural and vibrational properties of solvated iron(ii) polypyridyl complexes from AIMD simulations: III. [Fe(tpen)]Cl2 in acetonitrile

In order to achieve an in-depth understanding of the role played by the solvent in the photoinduced low-spin (LS) → high-spin (HS) transition in solvated Fe(ii) complexes, an accurate description of the solvated complexes in the two spin states is required. To this end, we are applying state-of-the-art ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations to the study of the structural and vibrational properties of iron(ii) polypyridyl complexes. Two aqueous LS complexes were investigated in this framework, namely, [Fe(bpy)₃]²⁺ (bpy = 2,2′-bipyridine) [Lawson Daku and Hauser, J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 2010, 1, 1830; Lawson Daku, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2018, 20, 6236] and [Fe(tpy)₂]²⁺ (tpy = 2,2′:6′,2′′-ter-pyridine) [Lawson Daku, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2019, 21, 650]. For aqueous [Fe(bpy)₃]²⁺, combining the results of forefront wide-angle X-ray scattering experiments with those of the AIMD simulations allowed the visualization of the interlaced coordination and solvation spheres of the photoinduced HS state [Khakhulin et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2019, 21, 9277]. In this paper, we report the extension of our AIMD studies to the spin-crossover complex [Fe(tpen)]²⁺ (tpen = N,N,N′,N′-tetrakis(2-pyridylmethyl)ethylenediamine) in acetonitrile (ACN). The determined LS and HS solution structures of the complex are in excellent agreement with the experimental results obtained by high-resolution transient X-ray absorption spectroscopy [Zhang et al., ACS Omega, 2019, 4, 6375]. The first solvation shell of [Fe(tpen)]²⁺ consists of ACN molecules located in the grooves defined by the chelating coordination motif of the tpen ligand. Upon the LS → HS change of states, the solvation number of the complex is found to increase from ≈9.2 to ≈11.9 and an inner solvation shell is formed. This inner solvation shell originates from the occupancy by about one ACN molecule of the internal cavity which results from the arrangement of the 4 pyridine rings of the tpen ligand, and which becomes accessible to the solvent molecules in the HS state only thanks to the structural changes undergone by the complex. The presence of this inner solvation shell for the solvated HS complex probably plays a key role in the spin-state dependent reactivity of [Fe(tpen)]²⁺ in liquid solutions.

AIMD study of the SCO [Fe(tpen)]²⁺ complex in acetonitrile: radial distribution functions and running coordination numbers characterizing its solvation structure in the HS state.

Spin-state dependence of the structural and vibrational properties of solvated iron(ii) polypyridyl complexes from AIMD simulations: II. aqueous [Fe(tpy)2]Cl2

LS and HS Fe–O radial distribution functions and running coordination numbers for aqueous [Fe(tpy)₂]Cl₂: in both spin states, the first hydration shell of [Fe(tpy)₂]²⁺ consists in a chain of ∼15 hydrogen-bonded water molecules wrapped around the ligands.

Spin-state dependence of the structural and vibrational properties of solvated iron(ii) polypyridyl complexes from AIMD simulations: aqueous [Fe(bpy)3]Cl2, a case study

LS and HS IR spectra of aqueous [Fe(bpy)₃]²⁺ and corresponding HS–LS difference IR spectrum as obtained from state-of-the-art ab initio molecular dynamics simulations applied to the determination of the structural and vibrational properties of the solvated complex.

Following a Chemical Reaction on the Millisecond Time Scale by Simultaneous X-ray and UV/Vis Spectroscopy

An innovative approach aimed at disclosing the mechanism of chemical reactions occurring in solution on the millisecond time scale is presented. Time-resolved energy dispersive X-ray absorption and UV/vis spectroscopies with millisecond resolution are used simultaneously to directly follow the evolution of both the oxidation state and the local structure of the metal center in an iron complex. Two redox reactions are studied, the former involving the transformation of Fe^II into two subsequent Fe^III species and the latter involving the more complex Fe^II-Fe^III-Fe^IV-Fe^III sequence. The structural modifications occurring around the iron center are correlated to the reaction mechanisms. This combined approach has the potential to provide unique insights into reaction mechanisms in the liquid phase and represents a new powerful tool to characterize short-lived intermediates that are silent to common spectroscopic techniques.

Ultrafast excited-state relaxation of a binuclear Ag(i) phosphine complex in gas phase and solution

The [Ag₂(dcpm)₂]²⁺ phosphine complex displays multiexponential excited-state relaxation dynamics both in the gas phase and in solution.

A luminescent Pt2Fe spin crossover complex

A heterotrinuclear luminescent [Pt₂Fe] spin crossover (SCO) complex was developed, synthesized, and investigated.

Ultrafast transient IR spectroscopy and DFT calculations of ruthenium(ii) polypyridyl complexes

Ultrafast time-resolved infrared spectroscopy of [Ru(bpy)₃]²⁺ (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine), [Ru(mbpy)₃]²⁺ (mbpy = 6-methyl-2,2'-bipyridine) and [Ru(mphen)₃]²⁺ (mphen = 2-methyl-1,10'-phenanthroline) in deuterated acetonitrile serves to elucidate the evolution of the system following pulsed excitation into the ¹MLCT band at 400 nm. While for [Ru(bpy)₃]²⁺ no intermediate state can be evidenced for the relaxation of the corresponding ³MLCT state back to the ground state, for [Ru(mbpy)₃]²⁺ and [Ru(mphen)₃]²⁺ an intermediate state with a lifetime of about 400 ps is observed. The species associated IR difference spectra of this state are in good agreement with the calculated difference spectra of the lowest energy ³dd state using DFT. The calculated potential energy curves for all the complexes in the triplet manifold along the metal-ligand distance show that for [Ru(bpy)₃]²⁺ the ³dd state is at a higher energy than the ³MLCT state and that there is a substantial barrier between the two minima. For [Ru(mbpy)₃]²⁺ and [Ru(mphen)₃]²⁺, the ³dd state is at a lower energy than the ³MLCT state.

Time-Resolved X-ray Spectroscopy in the Water Window: Elucidating Transient Valence Charge Distributions in an Aqueous Fe(II) Complex

Time-resolved nitrogen-1s spectroscopy in the X-ray water window is presented as a novel probe of metal-ligand interactions and transient states in nitrogen-containing organic compounds. New information on iron(II) polypyridyl complexes via nitrogen core-level transitions yields insight into the charge density of the photoinduced high-spin state by comparing experimental results with time-dependent density functional theory. In the transient high-spin state, the 3d electrons of the metal center are more delocalized over the nearest-neighbor nitrogen atoms despite increased bond lengths. Our findings point to a strong coupling of electronic states with charge-transfer character, facilitating the ultrafast intersystem crossing cascade in these systems. The study also highlights the importance of local charge density measures to complement chemical interaction concepts of charge donation and back-bonding with molecular orbital descriptions of states.

Tracking reaction dynamics in solution by pump–probe X-ray absorption spectroscopy and X-ray liquidography (solution scattering)

TRXL and TRXAS are powerful techniques for real-time probing of structural and electronic dynamics of photoinduced reactions in solution phase.

Element-specific characterization of transient electronic structure of solvated Fe(II) complexes with time-resolved soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy

Polypyridyl transition-metal complexes are an intriguing class of compounds due to the relatively facile chemical designs and variations in ligand-field strengths that allow for spin-state changes and hence electronic configurations in response to external perturbations such as pressure and light. Light-activated spin-conversion complexes have possible applications in a variety of molecular-based devices, and ultrafast excited-state evolution in these complexes is of fundamental interest for understanding of the origins of spin-state conversion in metal complexes. Knowledge of the interplay of structure and valence charge distributions is important to understand which degrees of freedom drive spin-conversion and which respond in a favorable (or unfavorable) manner. To track the response of the constituent components, various types of time-resolved X-ray probe methods have been utilized for a broad range of chemical and biological systems relevant to catalysis, solar energy conversions, and functional molecular devices. In particular, transient soft X-ray spectroscopy of solvated molecules can offer complementary information on the detailed electronic structures and valence charge distributions of photoinduced intermediate species: First-row transition-metal L-edges consist of 2p-3d transitions, which directly probe the unoccupied valence density of states and feature lifetime broadening in the range of 100 meV, making them sensitive spectral probes of metal-ligand interactions. In this Account, we present some of our recent progress in employing picosecond and femtosecond soft X-ray pulses from synchrotron sources to investigate element specific valence charge distributions and spin-state evolutions in Fe(II) polypyridyl complexes via core-level transitions. Our results on transient L-edge spectroscopy of Fe(II) complexes clearly show that the reduction in σ-donation is compensated by significant attenuation of π-backbonding upon spin-crossover. This underscores the important information contained in transient metal L-edge spectroscopy on changes in the 3d orbitals including oxidation states, orbital symmetries, and covalency, which largely define the chemistry of these complexes. In addition, ligand K-edge spectroscopy reveals the "ligand view" of the valence charge density by probing 1s-2p core-level transitions at the K-edge of light elements such as nitrogen, carbon, and oxygen. In the case of Fe(II) spin-conversion complexes, additional details of the metal-ligand interactions can be obtained by this type of X-ray spectroscopy. With new initiatives in and construction of X-ray free-electron laser sources, we expect time-resolved soft X-ray spectroscopy to pave a new way to study electronic and molecular dynamics of functional materials, thereby answering many interesting scientific questions in inorganic chemistry and material science.

Sub-50-fs photoinduced spin crossover in [Fe(bpy)₃]²⁺

It is known that excitation by visible light of the singlet metal-to-ligand charge-transfer ((1)MLCT) states of Fe(II) complexes leads to population of the lowest-lying high-spin quintet state ((5)T) with unity quantum yield. Here we investigate this so-called spin crossover (SCO) transition in aqueous iron(II)tris(bipyridine). We use pump-probe transient absorption spectroscopy with a high time resolution of <60 fs in the ultraviolet probe range, in which the (5)T state absorbs, and of <40 fs in the visible probe range, in which both the hot MLCT state and the (5)T state absorb. Our results show that the (5)T state is impulsively populated in less than 50 fs, which is the time we measured for the depopulation of the MCLT manifold. We propose that non-totally-symmetric modes mediate the process, possibly high-frequency modes of the bipyridine (bpy) ligand. These results show that even though the SCO process in Fe(II) complexes represents a strongly spin-forbidden (ΔS = 2) two-electron transition, spin flipping occurs at near subvibrational times and is intertwined with the electron and structural dynamics of the system.

Ultrafast light-induced spin-state trapping photophysics investigated in Fe(phen)2(NCS)2 spin-crossover crystal

Few photoactive molecules undergo a complete transformation of physical properties (magnetism, optical absorption, etc.) when irradiated with light. Such phenomena can happen on the time scale of fundamental atomic motions leading to an entirely new state within less than 1 ps following light absorption. Spin crossover (SCO) molecules are prototype systems having the ability to switch between low spin (LS) and high spin (HS) molecular states both at thermal equilibrium and after light irradiation. In the case of Fe(II) (3d(6)) complexes in a nearly octahedral ligand field, the two possible electronic distributions among the 3d split orbitals are S = 0 for the LS diamagnetic state and S = 2 for the HS paramagnetic state. In crystals, such photoexcited states can be long-lived at low temperature, as is the case for the photoinduced HS state of the [Fe(phen)2(NCS)2] SCO compound investigated here. We first show how such bistability between the diamagnetic and paramagnetic states can be characterized at thermal equilibrium or after light irradiation at low temperature. Complementary techniques provide invaluable insights into relationships between changes of electronic states and structural reorganization. But the development of such light-active materials requires the understanding of the basic mechanism following light excitation of molecules, responsible for trapping them into new electronic and structural states. We therefore discuss how we can observe a photomagnetic molecule during switching and catch on the fly electronic and structural molecular changes with ultrafast X-ray and optical absorption spectroscopies. In addition, there is a long debate regarding the mechanism behind the efficiency of such a light-induced process. Recent theoretical works suggest that such speed and efficiency are possible thanks to the instantaneous coupling with the phonons of the final state. We discuss here the first experimental proof of that statement as we observe the instantaneous activation of one key phonon mode precluding any recurrence towards the initial state. Our studies show that the structural molecular reorganization trapping the photoinduced electronic state occurs in two sequential steps: the molecule elongates first (within 170 femtosecond) and bends afterwards. This dynamics is caught via the coherent vibrational energy transfer of the two main structural modes. We discuss the transformation pathway connecting the initial photoexcited state to the final state, which involves several key reaction coordinates. These results show the need to replace the classical single coordinate picture employed so far with a more complex multidimensional energy surface.

Time-resolved IR spectroscopy of a trinuclear palladium complex in solution

Time-resolved IR spectroscopic methods covering the femto- to microsecond range in combination with (TD-)DFT computations were used to investigate the electronically excited state structure of a trinuclear Pd complex.

Cooperative spin-crossover-like transitions in the inhomogeneous chain of exchange clusters

A statistical theory of temperature-induced spin-crossover-like transitions has been developed for spin chains with a few exchange clusters in a unit cell. Using static magnetic susceptibility measurements, a general expression for the effective magnetic moment μ(eff) of exchange clusters is obtained for an arbitrary structure of cluster terms. For heterospin Cu(hfac)2L(R) complexes ("breathing crystals") with a "head-to-head" chain motif, a two-point approximation for a partition function of the Jahn-Teller Cu(+2) paramagnetic center (spin 1/2) is suggested. Theoretical results are compared with available experimental data on thermal spin-crossover-like transitions in the "breathing crystal" compounds. It is shown that the model developed is able to successfully describe both of the cases of smooth and abrupt (cooperative) spin transitions for chains of three-spin exchange clusters. Spin-crossover-like transitions of a new type with step-wise changes in a positive exchange integral are predicted.

Combined theoretical and experimental study of spin and charge dynamics on the homodinuclear complex [Ni2(II)(L-N4Me2)(emb)]

We present a combined theoretical and experimental study of spin and charge dynamics on the homodinuclear compound [Ni2(II)(L-N4Me2)(emb)]. The theoretically calculated oscillator strengths of the ground-state absorption spectrum show an acceptable agreement with experiment. We predict a local ultrafast laser-induced spin-flip scenario, which involves charge-transfer states. Experimentally, we observe charge dynamics on two different time scales. The two relevant, transient electronic states and their electronic properties are also theoretically characterized. These results provide a joint investigation of the homodinuclear complex and suggest a realistic scenario for ultrafast spin dynamics and other optical-related manipulations.

Theoretical Investigation of the Electronic Structure of Fe(II) Complexes at Spin-State Transitions

The electronic structure relevant to low spin (LS)↔high spin (HS) transitions in Fe(II) coordination compounds with a FeN₆ core are studied. The selected [Fe(tz)₆]²⁺ (1) (tz = 1H-tetrazole), [Fe(bipy)₃]²⁺ (2) (bipy = 2,2′-bipyridine), and [Fe(terpy)₂]²⁺ (3) (terpy = 2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridine) complexes have been actively studied experimentally, and with their respective mono-, bi-, and tridentate ligands, they constitute a comprehensive set for theoretical case studies. The methods in this work include density functional theory (DFT), time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT), and multiconfigurational second order perturbation theory (CASPT2). We determine the structural parameters as well as the energy splitting of the LS–HS states (ΔE_HL) applying the above methods and comparing their performance. We also determine the potential energy curves representing the ground and low-energy excited singlet, triplet, and quintet d⁶ states along the mode(s) that connect the LS and HS states. The results indicate that while DFT is well suited for the prediction of structural parameters, an accurate multiconfigurational approach is essential for the quantitative determination of ΔE_HL. In addition, a good qualitative agreement is found between the TD-DFT and CASPT2 potential energy curves. Although the TD-DFT results might differ in some respect (in our case, we found a discrepancy at the triplet states), our results suggest that this approach, with due care, is very promising as an alternative for the very expensive CASPT2 method. Finally, the two-dimensional (2D) potential energy surfaces above the plane spanned by the two relevant configuration coordinates in [Fe(terpy)₂]²⁺ were computed at both the DFT and CASPT2 levels. These 2D surfaces indicate that the singlet–triplet and triplet–quintet states are separated along different coordinates, i.e., different vibration modes. Our results confirm that in contrast to the case of complexes with mono- and bidentate ligands, the singlet–quintet transitions in [Fe(terpy)₂]²⁺ cannot be described using a single configuration coordinate.

Simulating picosecond iron K-edge X-ray absorption spectra by ab initio methods to study photoinduced changes in the electronic structure of Fe(II) spin crossover complexes

Recent time-resolved X-ray absorption experiments probing the low-spin to high-spin photoconversion in Fe(II) complexes have monitored the complex interplay between electronic and structural degrees of freedom on an ultrafast time scale. In this study, we use transition potential (TP) and time-dependent (TD) DFT to simulate the picosecond time-resolved iron K-edge X-ray absorption spectrum of the spin crossover (SCO) complex, [Fe(tren(py)(3))](2+). This is achieved by simulating the X-ray absorption spectrum of [Fe(tren(py)(3))](2+) in its low-spin (LS), (1)A(1), ground state and its high-spin (HS), (5)T(2), excited state. These results are compared with the X-ray absorption spectrum of the high-spin analogue (HSA), [Fe(tren(6-Me-py)(3))](2+), which has a (5)T(2) ground state. We show that the TP-DFT methodology can simulate a 40 eV range of the iron K-edge XANES spectrum reproducing all of the major features observed in the static and transient spectra of the LS, HS, and HSA complexes. The pre-edge region of the K-edge spectrum, simulated by TD-DFT, is shown to be highly sensitive to metal-ligand bonding. Changes in the intensity of the pre-edge region are shown to be sensitive to both symmetry and π-backbonding by analysis of relative electric dipole and quadrupole contributions to the transition moments. We generate a spectroscopic map of the iron 3d orbitals from our TD-DFT results and determine ligand field splitting energies of 1.55 and 1.35 eV for the HS and HSA complexes, respectively. We investigate the use of different functionals finding that hybrid functionals (such as PBE0) produce the best results. Finally, we provide a detailed comparison of our results with theoretical methods that have been previously used to interpret Fe K-edge spectroscopy of equilibrium and time-resolved SCO complexes.

Molecular spin crossover phenomenon: recent achievements and prospects

Recently we assisted a strong renewed interest in the fascinating field of molecular spin crossover complexes by (1) the emergence of nanosized spin crossover materials through direct synthesis of coordination nanoparticles and nanopatterned thin films as well as by (2) the use of novel sophisticated high spatial and temporal resolution experimental techniques and theoretical approaches for the study of spatiotemporal phenomena in cooperative spin crossover systems. Besides generating new fundamental knowledge on size-reduction effects and the dynamics of the spin crossover phenomenon, this research aims also at the development of practical applications such as sensor, display, information storage and nanophotonic devices. In this critical review, we discuss recent work in the field of molecule-based spin crossover materials with a special focus on these emerging issues, including chemical synthesis, physical properties and theoretical aspects as well (223 references).

Femtosecond Soft X-ray Spectroscopy of Solvated Transition-Metal Complexes: Deciphering the Interplay of Electronic and Structural Dynamics

We present the first implementation of femtosecond soft X-ray spectroscopy as an ultrafast direct probe of the excited-state valence orbitals in solution-phase molecules. This method is applied to photoinduced spin crossover of [Fe(tren(py)3)](2+), where the ultrafast spin-state conversion of the metal ion, initiated by metal-to-ligand charge-transfer excitation, is directly measured using the intrinsic spin-state selectivity of the soft X-ray L-edge transitions. Our results provide important experimental data concerning the mechanism of ultrafast spin-state conversion and subsequent electronic and structural dynamics, highlighting the potential of this technique to study ultrafast phenomena in the solution phase.