Stimuli-responsive NLO properties of tetrathiafulvalene-fused donor-acceptor chromophores.

The second-order nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of two tetrathiafulvalene (TTF)-fused electron donor-acceptor dyads have been determined using the Electric Field Induced Second Harmonic generation (EFISH) technique and theoretically rationalized. Dyads TTF-dppz (1) and TTF-BTD (2) were obtained by direct fusion of a TTF electron donor unit either with a dipyrido[3,2-a:2',3'-c]phenazine (dppz) or a benzothiadiazole (BTD) electron acceptor moiety. Dyad 1 acts as a reversible acido-triggered NLO switch by protonation/deprotonation at two nitrogen atoms of the dppz acceptor moiety induced by sequential exposure to HCl and ammonia vapors. Dyad 2, on the other hand, displays redox-tunable NLO properties upon two consecutive oxidations to its radical cation 2+˙ and dication 22+ species. The resulting final dication 22+ exhibits an inversion of the sign of ß0, due to a completely inverted distribution of the frontier molecular orbitals with respect to those of its neutral species, leading to a scarcely polar species in the excited state, as indicated by the theoretical calculations.

Thermal and near-infrared light induced spin crossover in a mononuclear iron(ii) complex with a tetrathiafulvalene-fused dipyridophenazine ligand.

A mononuclear Fe(ii) complex involving a tetrathiafulvalene-based ligand exhibits thermal spin-crossover (around 143 K) with pronounced hysteresis behaviour (48 K). The chromophoric and π-extended ligand allows Near-Infrared (NIR) sensitization for the light-induced excited spin-state trapping (LIESST) with T(LIESST) = 90 K.

Periodic Charging of Individual Molecules Coupled to the Motion of an Atomic Force Microscopy Tip.

Individual molecules at the edges of self-assembled islands grown on Ag(111) can be deliberately switched in their charge state with the electric field from a scanning-probe tip. Close to the threshold voltage for a charge state transition, periodic switching of the charge is directly driven by the cantilever motion in frequency-modulated atomic force microscopy (AFM), as can be deduced from the signature in the measured frequency shift. In this regime, the integrated frequency shift yields the tip-sample force that is due to a single additional electron. Further, the signature of the dynamic charging response provides information on the electronic coupling of the molecule to the substrate. In analogy to previous experiments on quantum dots, this may also be used in the future to access excited state properties of single molecules from AFM experiments.

The utilization of classical spin Monte Carlo methods to simulate the magnetic behavior of extended three-dimensional cubic networks incorporating M(II) ions with an S = 5/2 ground state spin.

The numerical simulations of the magnetic properties of extended three-dimensional networks containing M(II) ions with an S = 5/2 ground-state spin have been carried out within the framework of the isotropic Heisenberg model. Analytical expressions fitting the numerical simulations for the primitive cubic, diamond, together with (10-3) cubic networks have all been derived. With these empirical formulas in hands, we can now extract the interaction between the magnetic ions from the experimental data for these networks. In the case of the primitive cubic network, these expressions are directly compared with those from the high-temperature expansions of the partition function. A fit of the experimental data for three complexes, namely [(N(CH(3))(4)][Mn(N(3))] 1, [Mn(CN(4))](n)() 2, and [Fe(II)(bipy)(3)][Mn(II)(2)(ox)(3)] 3, has been carried out. The best fits were those obtained using the following parameters, J = -3.5 cm(-)(1), g = 2.01 (1); J = -8.3 cm(-)(1), g = 1.95 (2); and J = -2.0 cm(-)(1), g = 1.95 (3).

Crystal structures and magnetic properties of metal complexes bearing four nitronyl nitroxide moieties in the same coordination sphere.

Mononuclear transition metal complexes of the type [M(2,6-NITpy)2](ClO4)2 x solvent (2,6-NITpy = 2,6-bis-(3'-oxide-1'-oxyl-4',4',5',5'-tetramethylimidazolin-2'-yl)pyridine; M = Ni (1), Co (2), Zn (3), Mn (4), Cu (5)) have been synthesized and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. Crystal data: 1, monoclinic, P2(1)/c, Z = 4, a = 20.946(2) A, b = 12.0633(2) A, c = 21.173(2) A, beta = 113.55(1) degrees; 2, monoclinic, P2(1)/c, Z = 4, a = 20.902(2) A, b = 12.0981(8) A, c = 21.215(2) A, beta = 113.130(9) degrees; 3, triclinic, P1, Z = 2, a = 11.410(1) A, b = 12.932(1) A, c = 21.609(2) A, alpha = 96.040(2) degrees, beta = 102.24(1) degrees, gamma = 114.98(1); 4, monoclinic, P2(1)/n, Z = 4, a = 11.5473(8) A, b = 19.212(1) A, c = 25.236(2) A, beta = 98.772(9) degrees; 5, triclinic, P1, Z = 2, a = 12.1604(9) A, b = 12.6961(9) A, c = 18.103(2) A, alpha = 84.191(8) degrees, beta = 73.392(8) degrees, gamma = 66.072(8). The two 2,6-NITpy biradicals behave as terdentate ligands and bind almost perpendicular to each other in meridional positions. In compounds 1-4, the pyridine rings are axially ligated and four different nitronyl nitroxide radicals bind to the metal center through their O(nitroxyl) atoms, forming the equatorial plane of a distorted octahedron. On the contrary, in the copper(II) complex (5), the two N(pyridyl) atoms are found in equatorial positions. Only two nitroxide groups are then bound to the copper(II) ion in the equatorial plane, the other two being axially ligated. The two axially bound nitronyl nitroxide radicals couple ferromagnetically to the copper center (JCu-rad(ax) = + 10 K), whereas a strong antiferromagnetic coupling between this metal ion and the equatorial nitroxide groups (JCu-rad(eq) = -460 K) is observed. The other complexes exhibit strong antiferromagnetic metal-radical interactions: JNi-rad = -240 K, for 1; JMn-rad = -120 K, for 4. Interestingly, the study of the diamagnetic zinc(II) compound (3) reveals a moderate intramolecular antiferromagnetic interaction between radicals coordinated to the same metal center (Jrad-rad = -27.7 K). This interaction is transmitted through space and is also present in the other complexes: Jrad-rad = -14 K, for 1; Jrad-rad = -10 K, for 4; Jrad-rad = -20.5 K, for 5. Antiferromagnetic intermolecular interactions are also present in all the complexes herein studied.

A thermal spin transition in [Co(bpy)3][LiCr(ox)3] (ox = C2O4(2-); bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine).

In the three-dimensional oxalate network structures [M(II)(bpy)3][M(I)-M(III)(ox)3] (ox= C2O4(2-); bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine) the negatively charged oxalate backbone provides perfect cavities for tris-bipyridyl complex cations. The size of the cavity can be adjusted by variation of the metal ions of the oxalate backbone. In [Co(bpy)3][NaCr(ox)3], the [Co(bpy)3]2 + complex is in its usual 4T1(t2g5e(g)2) high-spin ground state. Substituting Na+ by Li+ reduces the size of the cavity. The resulting chemical pressure destabilises the high-spin state of [Co(bpy)3]2+ to such an extent that the 2E(t2g6e(g)1) low-spin state becomes the actual ground state. As a result. [Co(bpy)3][LiCr(ox)3] becomes a spin-crossover system, as shown by temperature-dependent magnetic susceptibility measurements and single-crystal optical spectroscopy, as well as by an X-ray structure determination at 290 and 10 K.