Investigation of the unique magnetic behaviours of isomers in a 1,2-dithiooxalato-bridged diiron(II) complex.

1,2-Dithiooxalate (dto) can be employed as a bridging ligand and it exhibits symmetric (O,S-chelation) or asymmetric (O,O- and S,S-chelation) coordination forms. In this study, we prepared a novel dto-bridged diiron(II) complex, [{Fe(TPA)}2(µ-dto)](ClO4)2 (1), where TPA is tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine. Interestingly, the bridging dto ligand exhibited not only the asymmetric form but also a linkage isomer and a diastereomer within the same crystal. Notably, the three isomers of 1 exhibited different magnetic properties, resulting in a multi-step spin crossover behaviour.

Ferrihydrite Particle Encapsulated within a Molecular Organic Cage.

Metal oxides with sizes of a few nanometers show variable crystal and electronic structures depending on their dimensions, and the synthesis of metal oxide particles with a desired size is a key technology in materials science. Although discrete metal oxide particles with an average diameter ( d) smaller than 2 nm are expected to show size-specific properties, such ultrasmall metal oxide particles are significantly limited in number. In nature, on the other hand, nanosized ferrihydrite (Fh), which is ferric oxyhydroxide, occurs as a result of biomineralization in ferritin, an iron storage protein cage. Here we describe the synthesis of Fh particles using a covalent molecular organic cage (MOC) derived from 8 + 12 cyclocondensation of triaminocyclohexane with a diformylphenol derivative. At the initial reaction stage, eight iron ions accumulated at the metal binding sites in the cage cavity, and Fh particles ( d = 1.9 ± 0.3 nm) encapsulated within the cage (Fh@MOC) formed with a quite narrow size distribution. The formation process of the Fh particle in the organic cage resembles the biomineralization process in the natural iron storage protein, and the present method could be applicable to the synthesis of other metal oxide particles. Fh@MOC is soluble in common organic solvents and shows substantial redox activity in MeCN.

Controlled reactivity tuning of metal-functionalized vanadium oxide clusters.

Controlling the assembly and functionalization of molecular metal oxides [Mx Oy ](n-) (M=Mo, W, V) allows the targeted design of functional molecular materials. While general methods exist that enable the predetermined functionalization of tungstates and molybdates, no such routes are available for molecular vanadium oxides. Controlled design of polyoxovanadates, however, would provide highly active materials for energy conversion, (photo-) catalysis, molecular magnetism, and materials science. To this end, a new approach has been developed that allows the reactivity tuning of vanadium oxide clusters by selective metal functionalization. Organic, hydrogen-bonding cations, for example, dimethylammonium are used as molecular placeholders to block metal binding sites within vanadate cluster shells. Stepwise replacement of the placeholder cations with reactive metal cations gives mono- and difunctionalized clusters. Initial reactivity studies illustrate the tunability of the magnetic, redox, and catalytic activity.

Effect of nonmagnetic substitution on the magnetic properties and charge-transfer phase transition of an iron mixed-valence complex, (n-C3H7)4N[Fe(II)Fe(III)(dto)3] (dto = C2O2S2).

The iron mixed-valence complex (n-C(3)H(7))(4)N[Fe(II)Fe(III)(dto)(3)] exhibits a novel type of phase transition called charge-transfer phase transition (CTPT), where the thermally induced electron transfer between Fe(II) and Fe(III) occurs reversibly at ~120 K, in addition to the ferromagnetic phase transition at T(C) = 7 K. To investigate the mechanism of the CTPT, we have synthesized a series of magnetically diluted complexes (n-C(3)H(7))(4)N[Fe(II)(1-x)Zn(II)(x)Fe(III)(dto)(3)] (dto = C(2)O(2)S(2); x = 0-1), and carried out magnetic susceptibility and dielectric constant measurements and (57)Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy. With increasing Zn(II) concentration (x), the CTPT is gradually suppressed and disappears at x ≈ 0.13. On the other hand, the ferromagnetic transition temperature (T(C)) is initially enhanced from 7 K to 12 K between x = 0.00 and 0.05, despite the nonmagnetic nature of Zn(II) ions, and then it decreases monotonically from 12 K to 3 K with increasing Zn(II) concentration. This anomalous dependence of T(C) on Zn(II) concentration is related to a change in the spin configuration of the ferromagnetic state caused by the partial suppression of the CTPT.