Issue 21, 2024, Issue in Progress

A photochromic trinuclear dysprosium(iii) single-molecule magnet with two distinct relaxation processes

Abstract

Multifunctional molecules responsive to light are highly desired as components for the construction of remotely controlled nanodevices. Here we present a DyIII single molecule magnet (SMM) comprising dithienylethene (dte) photochromic bridging ligands in the form of a pyridine (py) derivative: 1,2-bis((2-methyl-5-pyridyl)thie-3-yl)perfluorocyclo-pentene (dtepy). The title trinuclear compound {[DyIII(BHT)3]3(dtepy)2}·4C5H12 (1) was synthesized by combining the low-coordinate dysprosium complexes DyIII(BHT)3 (BHT = 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methylphenolate) with dtepy bridging ligands in the ‘open’ form using n-pentane as a completely inert solvent. The trinuclear molecule comprises two different DyIII centers due to its quasi-linear geometry: a central trigonal bipyramidal DyIII ion and two peripheral ones with an approximate trigonal pyramidal geometry. Thanks to that, 1 shows two types of SMM behavior which is slightly affected by the photoisomerization of the photochromic dtepy bridges. The impact of the photoisomerization on the magnetization dynamics was studied by means of alternating current (AC) magnetic susceptibility measurements for the ‘open’ and ‘closed’ forms of the molecules. The changes between the ‘open’ and ‘closed’ isomers were further investigated by IR and UV-vis spectroscopy, suggesting the co-existence of the ligand-related photochromism and single-molecule magnet behavior in 1. However, the powder X-ray diffraction studies indicate loss of structural order in the first photoisomerization step preventing in-depth studies.

Graphical abstract: A photochromic trinuclear dysprosium(iii) single-molecule magnet with two distinct relaxation processes

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Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
02 Mar 2024
Accepted
24 Apr 2024
First published
02 May 2024
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2024,14, 14515-14522

A photochromic trinuclear dysprosium(III) single-molecule magnet with two distinct relaxation processes

K. Rogacz, M. Magott, S. Baś, M. Foltyn, M. Rams and D. Pinkowicz, RSC Adv., 2024, 14, 14515 DOI: 10.1039/D4RA01645A

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