A novel two-step Fe-Au type spin-crossover behavior in a Hofmann-type coordination complex {Fe(4-methylpyrimidine)2[Au(CN)2]2}

A Hofmann-type two-step spin-crossover (SCO) complex with a pyrimidine derivative ligand, Fe(4-methylpyrimidine)2[Au(CN)2]2, was synthesized, and this complex shows a two-step SCO phenomenon in the intermediate state. Symmetry breaking also occurs in the intermediate state. These results reveal three spin states within the complex for high-spin (HS), HS0.5LS0.5, and low-spin (LS).

Theoretical analysis of pressure induced spin crossover phenomenon in a di-nuclear Fe(II) molecular complex

We have studied a Fe-based di-nuclear molecular complex having the chemical formula [{Fe(bpp)(NCS)₂}₂([Formula: see text]'-bipy)]·2MeOH (where bpp  =  [Formula: see text]-bis(pyrazol-3-yl) pyridine and [Formula: see text]'-bipy  =  [Formula: see text]'-bipyridine, 1) using density functional theory and model Hamiltonian approach. Our study provides insight to the pressure driven spin-crossover (SCO) phenomena observed experimentally in these systems. Upon increasing the pressure, the spin state of Fe(II) cation gradually changes from a high spin state (S  =2) to a low spin (LS) state (S  =0) accompanied by volume contraction. The gradual increase in pressure shrinks Fe-N bond length and also causes angular deviation of the FeN₆ octahedron leading to full conversion to the LS state without global structural phase transition. We have carried out exact diagonalization study of an effective single site Hamiltonian and confirmed the importance of intramolecular interaction for SCO phenomena. We have investigated the cooperativity of the observed SCO phenomena. We have also studied the effect of Co doping on the spin state of Fe and find that the spin state of Fe has a subtle dependency on the concentration of dopant atoms. Excess Co doping pave the way towards the possibility of an intermediate spin state for Fe and can give rise to a bistable spin transition process.

Pressure and temperature control of spin-switchable metal-organic coordination polymers from ab initio calculations

We explore a combination of density-functional theory with supplemented Coulomb U (DFT+U) and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the spin-crossover (SCO) phenomenon in coordination polymers. We demonstrate the applicability of the method for the case of bimetallic metal-organic framework Fe(2)[Nb(CN)(8)]·(4-pyridinealdoxime)(8)·2H(2)O [see S. Ohkoshi et al. Nat. Chem. 3, 564 (2011)]. Our study shows that this approach is capable of capturing the SCO transitions driven by pressure as well as temperature. In addition to discovering novel spin-state transitions, magnetic states involving changes in the long-range magnetic ordering pattern are achieved, thereby offering the tunability of spin states as well as the long-range order of the spins. We compare the SCO transition in the Fe-based framework with a computer designed Mn-based variant.