Two-Step Photon Absorption Driving the Chemical Reaction in the Model Ruthenium Nitrosyl System [Ru(py)4Cl(NO)](PF6)2·(1)/2H2O.

Various systems containing the [ML5NO] molecule, where M = Fe, Ru, ... and L = F, Cl, ..., exhibit switching under continuous light (CW) irradiation between the ground-state nitrosyl (GS), isonitrosyl (MSI), and side-on (MSII) configurations. The metastable populations, however, are often limited to a few percent. The [Ru(py)4Cl(NO)](PF6)2·(1)/2H2O system is thus a remarkable model compound as the GS to MSI transformation is nearly complete in a single crystal. A predominant two-step photon absorption process during GS to MSI switching under blue light is revealed by visible absorption spectroscopy, although a low concentration of the transient species hinders the determination of this process by the structural signature. During the depopulation of MSI, both two-step and direct processes are evidenced under red CW irradiation. Different intermediate visible spectra revealing transient species during GS to MSI and the reverse photochemical processes are discussed in relation to MSII properties.

Fe(II)(pap-5NO2)2 and Fe(II)(qsal-5NO2)2 Schiff-base spin-crossover complexes: a rare example with photomagnetism and room-temperature bistability.

We focus here on the properties of Fe complexes formed with Schiff bases involved in the chemistry of Fe(III) spin-transition archetypes. The neutral Fe(pap-5NO2)2 (1) and Fe(qsal-5NO2)2·Solv (2 and 2·Solv) compounds (Solv = 2H2O) derive from the reaction of Fe(II) salts with the condensation products of pyridine-2-carbaldehyde with 2-hydroxy-5-nitroaniline (Hpap-5NO2) or 5-nitrosalicylaldehyde with quinolin-8-amine (Hqsal-5NO2), respectively. While the Fe(qsal-5NO2)2·Solv solid is essentially low spin (S = 0) and requires temperatures above 300 K to undergo a S = 0 ↔ S = 2 spin-state switching, the Fe(pap-5NO2)2 one presents a strongly cooperative first-order transition (T↓ = 291 K, T↑ = 308 K) centered at room temperature associated with a photomagnetic effect at 10 K (TLIESST = 58 K). The investigation of these magnetic behaviors was conducted with single-crystal X-ray diffraction (1, 100 and 320 K; 2, 100 K), Mössbauer, IR, UV-vis (1 and 2·Solv), and differential scanning calorimetry (1) measurements. The Mössbauer analysis supports a description of these compounds as Fe(II) Schiff-base complexes and the occurrence of a metal-centered spin crossover process. In comparison with Fe(III) analogues, it appears that an expanded coordination sphere stabilizes the valence 2+ state of the Fe ion in both complexes. Strong hydrogen-bonding interactions that implicate the phenolato group bound to Fe(II) promote the required extra-stabilization of the S = 2 state and thus determines the spin transition of 1 centered at room temperature. In the lattice, the hydrogen-bonded sites form infinite chains interconnected via a three-dimensional network of intermolecular van der Waals contacts and π-π interactions. Therefore, the spin transition of 1 involves the synergetic influence of electrostatic and elastic interactions, which cause the enhancement of cooperativity and result in the bistability at room temperature.

On/off photoswitching in a cyanide-bridged {Fe2Co2} magnetic molecular square.

A repeatable bidirectional paramagnetic ↔ diamagnetic photomagnetic effect has been observed in the cyanide-bridged Fe-Co square complex {[Fe{B(pz)(4)}(CN)(3)](2)[Co(bik)(2)](2)}(ClO(4))(2)·3H(2)O [B(pz)(4) = tetrapyrazolylborate, bik = bis(1-methylimidazol-2-yl)ketone]. Magnetic measurements and low-temperature single-crystal X-ray diffraction experiments have shown that a complete electron transfer from the diamagnetic Fe(II)-Co(III) state to the paramagnetic Fe(III)-Co(II) metastable state is induced by 808 nm laser light irradiation, whereas the diamagnetic state is recovered in an almost quantitative yield under irradiation at 532 nm.

Ultrafast spin-state photoswitching in a crystal and slower consecutive processes investigated by femtosecond optical spectroscopy and picosecond X-ray diffraction.

We report the spin state photo-switching dynamics in two polymorphs of a spin-crossover molecular complex triggered by a femtosecond laser flash, as determined by combining femtosecond optical pump-probe spectroscopy and picosecond X-ray diffraction techniques. The light-driven transformations in the two polymorphs are compared. Combining both techniques and tracking how the X-ray data correlate with optical signals allow understanding of how electronic and structural degrees of freedom couple and play their role when the switchable molecules interact in the active crystalline medium. The study sheds light on crossing the border between femtochemistry at the molecular scale and femtoswitching at the material scale.

100†picosecond diffraction catches structural transients of laser-pulse triggered switching in a spin-crossover crystal.

We study by 100 picosecond X-ray diffraction the photo-switching dynamics of single crystal of the orthorhombic polymorph of the spin-crossover complex [(TPA)Fe(TCC)]PF(6), in which TPA = tris(2-pyridyl methyl)amine, TCC(2-) = 3,4,5,6-Cl(4)-Catecholate(2-). In the frame of the emerging field of dynamical structural science, this is made possible by using optical pump/X-ray probe techniques, which allow following in real time structural reorganization at intra- and intermolecular levels associated with the change of spin state in the crystal. We use here the time structure of the synchrotron radiation generating 100 picosecond X-ray pulses, coupled to 100 fs laser excitation. This study has revealed a rich variety of structural reorganizations, associated with the different steps of the dynamical process. Three consecutive regimes are evidenced in the time domain: 1) local molecular photo-switching with structural reorganization at constant volume, 2) volume relaxation with inhomogeneous distribution of local temperatures, 3) homogenization of the crystal in the transient state 100 µs after laser excitation. These findings are fundamentally different from those of conventional diffraction studies of long-lived photoinduced high spin states. The time-resolution used here with picosecond X-ray diffraction probes different physical quantities on their intrinsic time-scale, shedding new light on the successive processes driving macroscopic switching in a functionalized material. These results pave the way for structural studies away from equilibrium and represent a first step toward femtosecond crystallography.

The three-dimensional intermolecular network formed via water molecules in trans-bis(nitrito-κN)tetrakis(pyridine-κN)ruthenium(II) dihydrate.

The molecular geometry of the tetragonal crystal structure of the title compound, [Ru(NO(2))(2)(C(5)H(5)N)(4)]·2H(2)O, differs from that previously determined by powder diffraction [Schaniel et al. (2010). Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 12, 6171-6178]. In the [Ru(NO(2))(C(5)H(5)N)(4)] molecule, the Ru atom lies at the intersection of three twofold axes (Wyckoff position 8b). It is coordinated by four N atoms of the pyridine rings, as well as by two N atoms of N-nitrite groups. The last two N atoms are located on a twofold axis (Wyckoff position 16f). The O atoms of the water molecules are situated on a twofold axis (Wyckoff position 16e). Short intermolecular contacts are observed in the crystal structure, viz. N-O···OW and N-O···H-OW contacts between nitrite and water, and weak C-H···OW hydrogen bonds between pyridine and water. Thus, the intercalated water molecules act as bridges connecting the trans-[Ru(NO(2))(2)(py)(4)] molecules into a three-dimensional network.

Structural dynamics of photoinduced molecular switching in the solid state.

Fast and ultra-fast time-resolved diffraction is a fantastic tool for directly observing the structural dynamics of a material rearrangement during the transformation induced by an ultra-short laser pulse. The paper illustrates this ability using the dynamics of photoinduced molecular switching in the solid state probed by 100 ps X-ray diffraction. This structural information is crucial for establishing the physical foundations of how to direct macroscopic photoswitching in materials. A key feature is that dynamics follow a complex pathway from molecular to material scales through a sequence of processes. Not only is the pathway indirect, the nature of the dynamical processes along the pathway depends on the timescale. This dictates which types of degrees of freedom are involved in the subsequent dynamics or kinetics and which are frozen or statistically averaged. We present a recent investigation of the structural dynamics in multifunctional spin-crossover materials, which are prototypes of molecular bistability in the solid state. The time-resolved X-ray diffraction results show that the dynamics span from subpicosecond molecular photoswitching followed by volume expansion (on a nanosecond timescale) and additional thermoswitching (on a microsecond timescale).

Capturing one-dimensional precursors of a photoinduced transformation in a material.

Achieving control of photoinduced phase transitions requires understanding how materials work during transformation induced by a laser pulse. Here we investigate the precursors of a photoinduced phase transition in the highly cooperative charge-transfer molecular crystal tetrathiafulvalene-p-chloranil and provide key insights. The photogeneration of one-dimensional nanoscale clusters was detected by time-resolved diffuse x-ray scattering with 50-ps time resolution. Such clustering of structurally relaxed electronic excitations is expected to be a common process in many materials presenting photoinduced transformations.

[Ru(py)4Cl(NO)](PF6)2.0.5H2O: a model system for structural determination and ab initio calculations of photo-induced linkage NO isomers.

Structure analysis of ground state (GS) and two light-induced (SI and SII) metastable linkage NO isomers of [Ru(py)4Cl(NO)](PF6)2.0.5H2O is presented. Illumination of the crystal by a laser with lambda = 473 nm at T = 80 K transfers around 92% of the NO ligands from Ru-N-O into the isomeric configuration Ru-O-N (SI). A subsequent irradiation with lambda = 980 nm generates about 48% of the side-on configuration Ru<(N)(O) (SII). Heating to temperatures above 200 K or irradiation with light in the red spectral range transfers both metastable isomers reversibly back to the GS. Photodifference maps clearly show the N-O configurations for both isomers and they could be used to find a proper starting model for subsequent refinements. Both metastable isomers have slightly but significantly different cell parameters with respect to GS. The main structural changes besides the Ru-O-N and RU<(N)(O) linkage are shortenings of the trans Ru-Cl bonds and the equatorial Ru-N bonds. The experimental results are compared with solid-state calculations based on density functional theory (DFT), which reproduce the observed structures with high accuracy concerning bond lengths and angles. The problem of how the different occupancies of SI and GS could affect refinement results was solved by a simulation procedure using the DFT data as starting values.

Polymorphism in the spin-crossover ferric complexes [(TPA)Fe(III)(TCC)]PF6.

We have identified two polymorphs of the molecular complex [(TPA)Fe((III))(TCC)]PF(6) [TPA = tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine and TCC = 3,4,5,6-tetrachlorocatecholate dianion]: one is monoclinic and the other is orthorhombic. By lowering the temperature both undergo a thermal spin-crossover between a high-spin (S = 5/2) and a low-spin (S = 1/2) state, which we detected by magnetic, optical and X-ray diffraction measurements. The thermal crossover is only slightly shifted between the polymorphs. Their crystalline structures consist of similar cation layers alternating with PF(6) anion layers, packed differently in the two polymorphs. The magnetic and optical properties of the polymorphs are presented.

Laser-induced ferroelectric structural order in an organic charge-transfer crystal.

We report the direct observation by x-ray diffraction of a photoinduced paraelectric-to-ferroelectric structural phase transition using monochromatic 100-picosecond synchrotron pulses. It occurs in tetrathiafulvalene-p-chloranil, a charge-transfer molecular material in which electronic and structural changes are strongly coupled. An optical 300-femtosecond laser pulse switches the material from a neutral to an ionic state on a 500-picosecond time scale and, by virtue of intrinsic cooperativity, generates self-organized long-range structural order. The x-ray data indicate a macroscopic ferroelectric reorganization after the laser irradiation. Refinement of the structures before and after laser irradiation indicates structural changes at the molecular level.