Coordination-enhanced photochromism in dysprosium dinuclear complexes with photomodulated single-molecule magnet behavior Coordination-enhanced photochromism in dysprosium dinuclear complexes with photomodulated single-molecule magnet behavior

Abstract

We report the synthesis of a pyrazine-based bis-tridentate diarylethene (DAE) ligand and the corresponding dinuclear yttrium and dysprosium complexes that all show T-type photochromism. Large changes in the photochromic behaviour are induced by metal coordination, including a tuning of the bleaching rate by several orders of magnitude, characterized through VT-NMR and supported by theoretical calculations. The dysprosium dinuclear complex shows a single-molecule magnet (SMM) behaviour, under an external applied magnetic field, significantly modulated upon photoisomerization. This feature is further analyzed through ab initio calculations.