Interplay between local anisotropies in binuclear complexes.

A systematic study has been undertaken to determine how local distortions affect the overall (molecular) magnetic anisotropies in binuclear complexes. For this purpose we have applied a series of distortions to two binuclear Ni(II) model complexes and extracted the magnetic anisotropy parameters of multispin and giant-spin model Hamiltonians. Furthermore, local and molecular magnetic axes frames have been determined. It is shown that certain combinations of local distortions can lead to constructive interference of the local anisotropies and that the largest contribution to the anisotropic exchange does not arise from the second-rank tensor normally included in the multispin Hamiltonian, but rather from a fourth-rank tensor. From the comparison of the extracted parameters, simple rules are obtained to maximize the molecular anisotropy by controlling the local magnetic anisotropy, which opens the way to tune the anisotropy in binuclear or polynuclear complexes.

Singly occupied MOs in mono- and diradical conjugated hydrocarbons: comparison between variational single-reference, π-fully correlated and Hückel descriptions.

This work compares three descriptions of the unpaired electrons distribution in conjugated monoradical and diradical hydrocarbons involving one or two methylene groups attached to an aromatic skeleton. The first one is the simple Hückel topological Hamiltonian, the singly occupied molecular orbitals (SOMO) of which may be analytically obtained. The second one is the restricted open-shell self-consistent field (ROHF-SCF) method. The so-obtained distribution of the unpaired electrons on the skeleton appears deeply different from that predicted by the Hückel Hamiltonian, being more strongly localized on the external methylene groups. More elaborate methods treat all π electrons in the π valence molecular orbitals (MOs) through a full valence π complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) treatment. The distributions of the unpaired electrons (given by the natural MOs of occupation number close to 1) are surprisingly similar to those predicted by the Hückel model. The spin density distributions, including spin polarization effects, can be improved by further configuration interactions involving one hole-one particle excitations and compared with the experimental hyperfine coupling constant ratios. This comparison confirms the lack of delocalization of the magnetic orbitals defined from the self-consistent single-reference treatment. We show that, provided correct SOMO are used, a single excitation CI performed on top of a single reference gives accurate spin densities. Finally, a rationalization of the role of the dynamic correlation in correcting the excessive localization of the unpaired electron(s) at the ROHF level on the exocyclic methylene group(s) is given, attributing it to the dynamic charge polarization of the charge transfer configurations between methylene and the aromatic frame.

Giant Ising-type magnetic anisotropy in trigonal bipyramidal Ni(II) complexes: experiment and theory.

This paper reports the experimental and theoretical investigations of two trigonal bipyramidal Ni(II) complexes, [Ni(Me(6)tren)Cl](ClO(4)) (1) and [Ni(Me(6)tren)Br](Br) (2). High-field, high-frequency electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy performed on a single crystal of 1 shows a giant uniaxial magnetic anisotropy with an experimental D(expt) value (energy difference between the M(s) = ± 1 and M(s) = 0 components of the ground spin state S = 1) estimated to be between -120 and -180 cm(-1). The theoretical study shows that, for an ideally trigonal Ni(II) complex, the orbital degeneracy leads to a first-order spin-orbit coupling that results in a splitting of the M(s) = ± 1 and M(s) = 0 components of approximately -600 cm(-1). Despite the Jahn-Teller distortion that removes the ground term degeneracy and reduces the effects of the first-order spin-orbit interaction, the D value remains very large. A good agreement between theoretical and experimental results (theoretical D(theor) between -100 and -200 cm(-1)) is obtained.

Origin of the magnetic anisotropy in heptacoordinate Ni(II) and Co(II) complexes.

The nature and magnitude of the magnetic anisotropy of heptacoordinate mononuclear Ni(II) and Co(II) complexes were investigated by a combination of experiment and ab initio calculations. The zero-field splitting (ZFS) parameters D of [Ni(H(2)DAPBH)(H(2)O)(2)](NO(3))(2)⋅2 H(2)O (1) and [Co(H(2)DAPBH)(H(2)O)(NO(3))](NO(3)) [2; H(2)DAPBH = 2,6-diacetylpyridine bis- (benzoyl hydrazone)] were determined by means of magnetization measurements and high-field high-frequency EPR spectroscopy. The negative D value, and hence an easy axis of magnetization, found for the Ni(II) complex indicates stabilization of the highest M(S) value of the S = 1 ground spin state, while a large and positive D value, and hence an easy plane of magnetization, found for Co(II) indicates stabilization of the M(S) = ±1/2 sublevels of the S = 3/2 spin state. Ab initio calculations were performed to rationalize the magnitude and the sign of D, by elucidating the chemical parameters that govern the magnitude of the anisotropy in these complexes. The negative D value for the Ni(II) complex is due largely to a first excited triplet state that is close in energy to the ground state. This relatively small energy gap between the ground and the first excited state is the result of a small energy difference between the d(xy) and d(x(2)-y(2)) orbitals owing to the pseudo-pentagonal-bipyramidal symmetry of the complex. For Co(II), all of the excited states contribute to a positive D value, which accounts for the large magnitude of the anisotropy for this complex.

A Strategy to Determine Appropriate Active Orbitals and Accurate Magnetic Couplings in Organic Magnetic Systems.

This work addresses the following paradox observed in diradicalar conjugated hydrocarbons: while the natural orbitals occupation numbers clearly indicate only two open-shell orbitals, i.e. two unpaired electrons, the minimal CAS zero-order description fails to reproduce accurately the electronic structures of the lowest states (spin density distribution and singlet-triplet energy gap, i.e., magnetic coupling). We will focus on the question of the optimization of both magnetic and nonmagnetic orbitals for the determination of accurate magnetic interactions in organic compounds. It is analytically demonstrated (in the Appendix) and numerically shown from multireference configuration interaction calculations performed on a series of original organic ferro- and antiferromagnetic compounds that, (i) some double excitations must be considered to obtain reliable magnetic orbitals for the calculation of magnetic couplings, (ii) the account of these excitations results in a larger spatial extent of the magnetic orbitals on the surrounding ligands and hence better drives the interaction between several magnetic centers, and (iii) the reliability of the orbitals is a crucial ingredient for the determination of accurate magnetic couplings. A strategy which optimizes the orbitals at a reasonable computational cost is proposed. It relies on a CAS(2,2) zero-order description and provides orbitals of the same quality as the CAS(full valence π)SCF orbitals. The values of the magnetic couplings computed using the difference dedicated configuration interaction on top of the CAS(2,2) references with the new orbital set are very close to those obtained at the much more computationally demanding CAS(full valence π)PT2 level of treatment.