Fine Control of the Metal Environment within Dysprosium-Based Mononuclear Single-Molecule Magnets

Abstract

A new family of three DyIII mononuclear complexes and one DyIII chain system based on the same ligand [1,3-di(pyridin-4-yl)propane-1,3-dione] has been isolated as single crystals. By varying the synthesis conditions, it has been possible to finely control the number of ligands coordinated to the central lanthanide atom (from 1 to 3) and then the total charge of the complex unit (from +2 to neutral), as well as the local geometry around the DyIII ion (from D4d to D2d). The magnetic properties of the four complexes have been studied and rationalized by ab initio calculations to illustrate the correlation between the metal-ion environment, due to the number of coordinated ligands, and their SMM behaviours.