Open Access Article
Hrudya Pariyacheri Padikkala,
Olivier Jeannin
a,
Mathieu Rouzièresb,
Rodolphe Clérac
b,
Ie-Rang Jeon
*b and
Marc Fourmigué
*a
aUniv. Rennes, CNRS, ISCR (Institut des Sciences Chimiques de Rennes), UMR 6226, F-35042 Rennes, France. E-mail: marc.fourmigue@univ-rennes.fr
bUniv. Bordeaux, CNRS, CRPP, UMR 5031, F-33600 Pessac, France. E-mail: ie-rang.jeon@u-bordeaux.fr
First published on 6th March 2026
The activation of strong σ-holes in the oxidized form of 2,7-dimethoxynaphthalene peri-diselenide (1) is demonstrated in its radical salts with magnetic (S = 5/2) FeX4− anions as well as their diamagnetic analogs GaX4− (X = Cl, Br). All four salts exhibit short and directional Se⋯X chalcogen bonding (ChB) interactions, together with strong dimerization of the radical species into dicationic dimers along the stacks of 1˙+. Magnetic analysis highlights the presence of antiferromagnetic interactions between paramagnetic FeX4− anions and reveals long-range antiferromagnetic order with TN = 5.9 K only in the FeBr4− salt, attributable to the short Br⋯Br distances induced by ChB interactions.
In that respect, the diselenide 1 was reported to form only neutral charge transfer complexes with TCNQ, without any report on their crystal structures.17 We demonstrate here that 1 can be successfully oxidized into stable cation radicals, which were isolated in the present work with magnetic (S = 5/2) FeX4− anions as well as their diamagnetic analogs GaX4− (X = Cl, Br), affording the corresponding 1
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1 salts, characterized with strong antiferromagnetic interactions and a long-range antiferromagnetically ordered ground state for the FeBr4− salt.
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1 stoichiometry, formulated as (1)(FeX4) or (1)(GaX4). As shown in Table S1, the salts with FeCl4−, FeBr4− and GaBr4− are isostructural. They crystallize in the monoclinic system, space group P21/n with both 1˙+ cation and anion in general position. The GaCl4− crystallizes in the triclinic system, space group P
, with both 1˙+ cation and anion in general position but with the GaCl4− anion disordered on two positions with a 91
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9 distribution. The overall solid-state organization of the cation and the anion in (1)(GaCl4) is however closely related to that of the three other salts (vide infra). Note that a second phase of (1)(GaCl4), denoted (1)(GaCl4)_B was identified concomitantly. It crystallizes in the triclinic group P
, with twice the volume of the former one, two independent 1˙+ cations and two independent, disordered GaCl4− anions. It is described in more details in SI (Fig. S3–S6).
We note sizeable evolutions of the intramolecular bond distances in 1˙+, when compared with its neutral counterpart 1 (Table S4). It appears indeed that the bonds a (Se–Se), b (C–Se) and e (C–OMe), of antibonding nature in the HOMO of 1 (cf. Fig. 1a in which the bond notation is also given) shorten upon oxidation (–1.4, −1.7 and −2.3% respectively), while bonds d (C–C), of bonding nature in the HOMO, lengthen upon oxidation by +2.4%. The bonds c (C–C) are not modified, consistent with their nonbonding nature in the HOMO as one C atom is located on an orbital node.
A view of the unit cell of (1)(FeCl4) is shown in Fig. 2 as a representative example of the four salts (see Fig. S7–S9). The salts are characterized by stacks of cation radicals running along the a direction. Along the stacks, the molecules adopt two different inversion-centered head-to-tail overlaps (Fig. 2b and c), with very different interplanar distances, found in (1)(FeCl4) at 3.19 and 3.49 Å, in (1)(GaCl4) at 3.21 and 3.47 Å, in (1)(FeBr4) at 3.20 and 3.51 Å, and in (1)(GaBr4) at 3.21 and 3.51 Å. The intra-dimer plane-to-plane distances (3.19–3.21 Å) are notably shorter than the C⋯Se van der Waals contact distances (3.60 Å), indicating a strong dimerization of the S = 1/2 radical species into dicationic dimers in all salts.
The dimerized chains are surrounded by the Fe/GaX4− anions, with short and directional Se⋯X (X = Cl, Br) contacts characteristic of ChB interactions. Indeed, as detailed in Fig. 3 for (1)(FeCl4), two Cl atoms (Cl1 and Cl4) lie in the molecular plane of the donor molecule, allowing for the setting of two ChB interactions with Se1, noted α and β in Fig. 3, at 3.286(5) and 3.511(1) Å, corresponding to a reduction ratio (RR) of respectively 0.90 and 0.96. A third ChB interaction (noted γ) with the inversion-related FeCl4− anion is observed between Se2 and Cl4 (RR = 0.97). This organization pattern is essentially similar in the other salts (see Fig. S10–S12 in SI), with variations associated with the smaller size of GaCl4−, with the larger radius of Br in the FeBr4− and GaBr4− anions. ChB distances are collected in Table 1.
| α ChB (Å), RR | β ChB (Å), RR | γ ChB (Å), RR | |
|---|---|---|---|
| (1)(FeCl4) | 3.286(5), 0.90 | 3.511(1), 0.96 | 3.555(1), 0.97 |
| (1)(GaCl4) | 3.255(11), 0.89 | 3.503(6), 0.96 | 3.593(7), 0.98 |
| (1)(FeBr4) | 3.377(5), 0.90 | 3.634(1), 0.97 | 3.750(1), 1.00 |
| (1)(GaBr4) | 3.413(9), 0.91 | 3.658(2), 0.97 | 3.734(1), 0.99 |
Transport measurements performed on single crystals by the two-point method show for all four salts an essentially insulating behavior with σRT values of 8.1 × 10−7 and 1.9 × 10−8 S cm−1 in the FeCl4− and FeBr4− salts respectively, and 2.3 × 10−8 and 8.0 × 10−9 S cm−1 in the GaCl4− and GaBr4− salts respectively. These values confirm the very strong dimerization of the 1˙+ radicals within the stacks.
Magnetic susceptibility (χ) measurements performed on a polycrystalline sample of the two GaCl4− and GaBr4− salts indicate their diamagnetic behavior. This confirms the analysis made above based on the crystal structures and shows that the S = 1/2 1˙+ radicals are strongly paired into the dimerized chains and do not contribute to the magnetism below 300 K. This result implies that the magnetic response of the two FeCl4− and FeBr4− salts is attributable only to the contributions of the inorganic anions.
To probe and compare magnetic behaviors of the two FeCl4− and FeBr4− salts, variable-temperature dc magnetic susceptibility data were collected for microcrystalline samples. The resulting plot of χT vs. T is shown in Fig. 4. At 300 K, the χT value is 4.4 cm3 K mol−1 for both compounds, in good agreement with the expected contribution of a high-spin S = 5/2 FeIII ion (C = 4.375 cm3 K mol−1 with g = 2; g being the Landé factor). Upon lowering temperature, the χT product gradually decreases, reaching values of 0.4 and 0.2 cm3 K mol−1 at 1.85 K for the FeCl4− and FeBr4− salts, respectively. Such thermal behavior indicates the presence of predominant antiferromagnetic interactions between the FeIII spins. Notably, the χT product of the FeBr4− salt falls at higher temperature than that of the FeCl4− salt, suggesting stronger antiferromagnetic interactions in the former.
Indeed, the plot of χ−1 vs. T (Fig. S13 in SI) displays a linear relationship in the 30–300 K temperature range, consistent with a Curie–Weiss law (g = 2.0 and 2.1 and θ = –9.1 and −23 K for the FeCl4− and FeBr4− salts, respectively), thereby confirming the stronger antiferromagnetic interaction in the FeBr4− salt.
To further investigate the low temperature magnetic behavior, variable-field magnetization data were collected for both compounds below 15 K as shown in Fig. 5. At 1.85 K, the M vs. H data are non-linear for both compounds, reaching 3.8 and 1.6 μB at 7 T for the FeCl4− and FeBr4− salts, respectively. These values are significantly lower than the expected saturation value of 5 μB, particularly in the case of the FeBr4− salt. The deviation from linear field dependence is highlighted by a broad maximum in the dM/dH vs. H plot for the FeCl4− salt (Fig. S14). This feature is nearly independent of temperature and does not extrapolate to zero at finite temperature, likely indicating the presence of antiferromagnetic interactions between FeIII centers that are compensated by the applied magnetic field at H*(0) = 4.25 T (value extrapolated at zero). The average magnetic exchange is estimated at zJ′/kB = –1.1 K from the field/interaction energy equality, gμBSH*(0) = 2|zJ′|S2.19 It is worth mentioning that, despite the observance of H* and the field-dependence shown in χ vs. T data (Fig. S15; or non-linearity of the M vs. H data), an ordered antiferromagnetic ground state was not observed in the FeCl4− salt above 1.85 K.
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| Fig. 5 Field dependence of the magnetization up to 7 T at indicated temperatures between 1.85 and 15 K for the FeCl4− (in open circles) and FeBr4− (in full circles) salts. | ||
In contrast, the dM/dH vs. H plot of the FeBr4− salt shows a sharp peak at 1.85 K (Fig. S16). Moreover, χ vs. T data reveal strong field-dependence with a pronounced low-temperature drop at low fields (Fig. 4 inset). By combining M vs. H and χ vs. T data, and taking the maximum of the dM/dH vs. H and χ vs. T plots, the characteristic field, HC, was tracked to construct a (T, H) phase diagram, shown in Fig. 6. The extrapolation of the characteristic field to zero at a finite temperature confirms the presence of an 3D antiferromagnetic order with TN = 5.9 K. When a magnetic field is applied, a transition line corresponding to HC1 emerges, that is only weakly temperature dependent. At higher magnetic fields, H > HC1, a quasi-vertical transition line continues around 5.6 K. This observation, together with the gradual magnetization increase under applied dc field, suggests the presence of three different magnetic phases with an antiferromagnetic (AF)-to-spin-flop (SF) phase transition at HC1,20 resulting from the competition between anisotropy (Ea) and the Zeeman energies.21 HC2 corresponding to the SF-to-paramagnetic phase transition is not accessible in the experimental window of dc fields. Nevertheless, neglecting anisotropy contribution on HC2 (HE ≫ HA, where HA and HE are anisotropy and exchange fields, respectively) this field can be estimated from the perpendicular susceptibility, χperp, obtained experimentally by the slope of the M vs. H data at 1.85 K at H > HC1
:
HC2 ≈ NgμBS/χperp ≈ 21 T.
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| Fig. 6 (T, H) phase diagram for the FeBr4− salt. Full circles: location of the maximum of susceptibility from dM/dH vs. H data (Fig. S15); open circles: location of the maximum of susceptibility from χ vs. T data (Fig. 4 inset). The solid lines are guides. | ||
A quantitative analysis of the effect of the applied field is possible at T = 0 K where entropy vanishes, and the expressions for HC1(0) and HC2(0) are given by the following equations for g = 2:22
| HC1(0)2 = 2HAHE − HA2 | (1) |
| HC2(0) = 2HE − HA | (2) |
By taking HC1(0) = 3.36 T, extrapolated from the phase diagram, and HC2(0) ≈ 21 T, HA and HE are estimated to 0.54 T and 10.8 T. From these molecular fields, an estimation of the magnetic anisotropy and the exchange interactions can be given: |D|/kB = 0.14 K and zJ′/kB ≈ −2.9 K, justifying the weak anisotropy limit, |zJ′| ≫ |D| (with gμBSHA = 2DS2 and gμBSHE = 2|zJ′|S2). Note that the estimated magnetic exchange in the FeBr4− salt is about twice as large as that estimated for the FeCl4− salt, likely explaining the observation of the ordered magnetic ground state of the former.
These magnetic analyses are indeed consistent with the X⋯X contact distances observed in the structures of both compounds. The closest X⋯X interactions occur between inversion-related FeX4− anions at 3.409(1) and 3.482(1) Å for the FeCl4− and FeBr4− salts (Fig. 7 and Fig. S17), respectively. These distances correspond to RR values of 0.97 and 0.94, indicating stronger interactions between FeBr4− anions. Moreover, the next closest Cl⋯Cl distances in the FeCl4− salt amount to 4.122(5) Å along the crystallographic a direction and 4.425(3) Å in the bc plane. The equivalent Br⋯Br distances in the FeBr4− salt are shorter, 4.058(5) and 4.254(3) Å, despite the larger radius of Br. Taken together, the shorter and more effective Br⋯Br contacts in three dimensions in the FeBr4− salt explain the stabilization of an 3D antiferromagnetic order, whereas the relatively longer Cl⋯Cl contacts in the FeCl4− salt limit the interactions to short-range correlations, thereby inhibiting the development of long-range magnetic order. The origin of such antiferromagnetic interactions has been attributed in some instances to so called π–d interactions, where the cation radicals would mediate indirect interactions between the S = 5/2 species.23 However, the short Br⋯Br and Cl⋯Cl interactions found here lead us to rule out this possibility. On the other hand, a CCDC search for halogen–halogen intermolecular contacts between MX4− anions (M = Fe, Ga; X = Cl, Br) shows that the averaged X⋯X distances amount to 3.516 Å and 3.552 Å in GaCl4− and FeCl4− salts, to 3.602 Å and 3.629 Å in GaBr4− and FeBr4− respectively. The notably shorter distances found here in (1)(FeCl4) and particularly in (1)(FeBr4) [3.482(1) Å] demonstrate that the Se⋯X ChB interactions with the 1˙+ cation radicals play an important role in bringing close to each other the S = 5/2 metalate anions. Such effects were discussed in isostructural salts of FeCl4− and FeBr4− with tetramethylammonium24 or 2-methylquinolinium25 counter ions. In such systems and despite larger Br⋯Br than Cl⋯Cl intermolecular distances, stronger antiferromagnetic interactions are also observed with FeBr4−. Also, in cation radical salts of tetrathiafulvalenes derivatives with FeCl4− and FeBr4−,26 the stronger antiferromagnetic interaction with the latter (and stabilization of an antiferromagnetic ground state) was indeed attributed to the increase of the “d–p mixing” between 3d orbitals of Fe and 4p orbitals of Br atoms and the large electron cloud of Br atom in the FeBr4− salt,27 which enhance the intermolecular magnetic interaction through halogen atoms compared to the FeCl4− salt.
To cross-check the presence of the magnetic phase transition at low temperatures, heat capacity measurements were performed on both compounds between 2 and 50 K. As shown in Fig. 8, a reproducible λ-type feature is observed for the FeBr4− salt, confirming the presence of an ordered magnetic ground state. In contrast, the appearance of a broad feature around 2 K in the FeCl4− salt is likely due to the short-range order effect,28 which is consistent with the magnetic data (Fig. S18). In order to further analyze these calorimetric measurements, the magnetic component of the heat capacity (Cpm) was extracted by subtracting the baseline, which should mainly correspond to the lattice contribution and was modeled to an empirical polynomial expression. While this correction was reasonably applied to the FeBr4− salt (Fig. 8), the broad low temperature rise of Cp in the FeCl4− salt made the fit inherently less precise, which in turn could lead to significant errors in the Cpm. The resulting Cpm vs. T plots reveal a broad feature centered around 2.7 K for the FeCl4− salt (Fig. S19), while a sharp λ-type anomaly with a maximum at 5.5 K is observed for the FeBr4− salt. Numerical integration of the Cpm between 2 and 15 K yields an associated magnetic entropy (Sm), which reaches saturation values of 20.9 and 16.5 J K−1 mol−1 for the FeCl4− and FeBr4− salts, respectively (Fig. S20–S21). The estimated entropy gain for the FeBr4− salt is very close to R
ln6 = 14.9 J K−1 mol−1, the value expected for the spin entropy (S = 5/2 FeIII centers), confirming the bulk magnetic order of the FeIII spins. The pronounced entropy contribution observed in the FeCl4− salt can be ascribed to factors such as the imprecise estimation of the base line correction (vide supra) and/or contributions beyond the purely magnetic component. Another plausible origin is the presence of structural disorder within the system, which not only enhances the overall entropy but also inhibits the stabilization of long-range magnetic order.
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1 salts with FeX4− and GaX4− (X = Cl, Br) anions. Theoretical calculations reveal a pronounced localization of the HOMO and spin density on the selenium atoms, where σ-holes simultaneously emerge to engage in chalcogen bond (ChB) with the anions. Structural analysis confirms the presence of short and directional Se⋯X (X = Cl, Br) ChB interactions around the diselenide bridge with both FeX4− and GaX4− anions, which effectively bring the anions into close proximity. In addition, strong dimerization of the radical is observed along the stacks of 1˙+, leaving the FeX4− anions as the sole contributors to the magnetic behavior. Magnetic susceptibility and heat capacity measurements suggest that the FeBr4− salt undergoes a 3D antiferromagnetic order below TN = 5.9 K, whereas the FeCl4− salt exhibits only short-range correlations above 1.85 K. The stronger magnetic interactions in the FeBr4− salt are rationalized by shorter Br⋯Br contacts. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that the oxidized cation of electron rich diselenides can act as efficient ChB donors, providing a new strategy to control supramolecular organization with magnetic anions and opening perspectives for the design of molecular materials with emergent properties.
CCDC 2497447 (1)(FeCl4), 2497448 (1)(GaCl4), 2497449 (1)(GaCl4)_B, 2497450 (1)(FeBr4) and 2497451 (1)(GaBr4) contain the supplementary crystallographic data for this paper.29a–e
, where i and j label S = 5/2 FeIII spin centers, J′ is the average interaction between a spin at site i and its z neighboring spins at sites j, D is the zero-field splitting parameter, g is the Landé factor, and μB is the Bohr magneton.| This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2026 |