Themed collection Frontiers in coordination chemistry and its applications

We are delighted to present this collection of articles to celebrate the work of Kim Dunbar on the occasion of her 60th birthday.

A salen-based MOF is reported that is stable to desolvation and exhibits a crystalline-to-amorphous transition. The framework is stable to a one-electron reduction, which is characterised spectroelectrochemically and using computational calculations.

Cyanometallates are excellent building blocks for networks, we demonstrate counterintuitively long spin–lattice relaxation times in two heavy octacyanometalltes.

DMF coordination to Fe centers induces partial electron transfer and improves electrical conductivity in Fe₂(DSBDC) by three orders of magnitude.

Facile routes to MCl₄(dme) M = Mo, W. Improved syntheses and characterizations.

We reported the first example of SIM behavior in a hepta-coordinate pentagonal bipyramid Mn^II complex.

We explore structural and magnetic changes on mononuclear cobalt(II) complex salts featuring a tripodal iminopyridine ligand imparted by second coordination sphere anions.

A linear trinuclear ferrous [Fe^II₃] SMM exhibited clear magnetic hysteresis loops and a significant higher effective energy barrier in comparison with its cobalt(II) analogue.

The synthesis and coordination chemistry of ligand LH₂ to first row transition metals is described in which it acts as a tridentate N,N′,N′′-donor.

We characterise the spin dynamics of two molecular transition metal dimers, by combining inelastic neutron scattering and magnetic measurements.

Twenty-three compounds in two series of ferrocene-based anilides, with the general formula C₅H₅-Fe-C₅H₄-C₆H₄-NH-CO-C₆H₄-R (where R = H, F, Cl, CH₃ and OCH₃), have been synthesized and found to inhibit butyrylcholinesterase.

Two sets of structurally analogous Co(III/II)-based redox mediators were incorporated in the dye-sensitized solar cells and a linear correlation was demonstrated between redox potential and photovoltage.

Heavy alkaline cation uptake converts Prussian blue analogs (PBAs) into competitive contrast agents for X-ray computed tomography.

A new family of ferromagnetically-coupled {Cu₄Ln₂} complexes is reported. The compounds exhibit SMM and magnetocaloric properties.

Combined experimental and theoretical studies on a family of twelve Mn^III dimers reveal that exchange contribution to the magnetic anisotropy is as important as single ion anisotropy.

In D₂A-type layered magnets composed of paddlewheel-type diruthenium(II,II) complexes and TCNQ derivatives, is it a ferrimagnet or an antiferromagnet?

Two layered perovskites of the formula [CH₃C(NH₂)₂]₂[M(HCOO)₄] (M = Co and Ni) exhibit anisotropic thermal expansion behavior and weak ferromagnetism.

A bromo-capped diruthenium(I,I) complex activates NBS to produce bromine in situ, and thus catalyses bromine-mediated olefin aziridination reactions.

The first fluorescent oxalato-based canted antiferromagnet maintains the quantum nature of the emitters thanks to the isolation provided by the honeycomb matrix.

The mechanism of oxygen activation at a dicobalt bis-μ-hydroxo core is probed by the implementation of synthetic methods to isolate reaction intermediates.

Cyanide, as an ambidentate ligand, plays a pivotal role in providing a simple diatomic building-block motif, for controlled metal aggregation, M–CN–M′.

Cation exchange transforms the gradual spin transition of the trimer [(H₂O)₆Fe₃(μ-L)₆]^6– into an abrupt transition with a wide hysteresis above room temperature.

Functionalized PCN-333 was synthesized for Fe³⁺ ion detection via one-pot solvothermal reaction.

[Mo₂O₁₁]²⁻ identified as the active species in H₂O₂ oxygenation of sulfides catalyzed by heptamolybdate using in situ nano-ESI MS analysis.

Anionic bridging ligands formate, cyanide and azide have been used to form cross-links in a ferrimagnetic coordination framework, resulting in competing magnetic interactions that decrease the magnetic ordering temperature and result in peculiar magnetic properties.

A vibronic model for the electric field control of antiferromagnetic exchange is developed for the linear mixed-valence triferrocenium complex Fe(III)–Fe(II)–Fe(III), which is proposed as possible molecular candidate for the implementation of a quantum logic gate.

Sterically encumbered 6-halo-substituents lead to BF₄/MeOH/ligand rearrangement, forming doubly bridged {Co1–[O(Me)–B(F₂)–O(R)]₂–Co1A} dinuclear complexes (6-Cl, 6-Br) of the modified ligands.

The Dy(III) member of a family of lanthanide(III)-anil complexes displays luminescence and exhibits slow magnetic relaxation.

A new Ru(II) complex releases a cysteine protease inhibitor and produces cytotoxic ¹O₂ upon irradiation with visible light, making it potentially useful as a dual-action PDT agent.

Three cyanide-bridged 3D long-range magnetic ordering complexes were successfully synthesized and magnetically characterized. These compounds are the first [Mo^III(CN)₇]⁴⁻-based materials containing the bidentate secondary ligands.

In the context of our work on electron deficient group 15 cations as Lewis acid catalysts, we have synthesized the triflate salts of a series of tetraarylstibonium cations and evaluated their catalytic activity for the cycloaddition of isocyanates to oxiranes.

Heterometallic species with Anderson-like structures are characterised by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, solution- and solid-state NMR spectroscopy, ESI mass spectrometry and SQUID magnetometry.

A nitrogen-rich ligand is employed as a scaffold for lanthanide ions, leading to clear SMM-like behaviour and two well-isolated modes of magnetic relaxation.