CHIMIA (Oct 2000)

Molecular-Based Magnetism in High-Spin Molecular Clusters and Three-Dimensional Networks Based on Cyanometalate Building Blocks

  • Melanie Pilkington,
  • Silvio Decurtins

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 54, no. 10

Abstract

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The field of molecule-based magnets is a relatively new branch of chemistry, which involves the design and study of molecular compounds that exhibit a spontaneous magnetic ordering below a critical temperature, Tc. One major goal involves the design of materials with tuneable Tc's for specific applications in memory storage devices. Molecule-based magnets with high magnetic ordering temperatures have recently been obtained from bimetallic and mixed-valence transition metal ?-cyanide complexes of the Prussian blue family. Since the ?-cyanide linkages permit an interaction between paramagnetic metal ions, cyanometalate building blocks have found useful applications in the field of molecule-based magnets. Our work involves the use of octacyanometalate building blocks for the self-assembly of two new classes of magnetic materials namely, high-spin molecular clusters which exhibit both ferromagnetic intra- and intercluster coupling, and specific extended network topologies which show long-range ferromagnetic ordering.

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