Modeling molecular crystals formed by spin-active metal complexes by atom–atom potentials

Abstract

We apply the atom–atom potentials to molecular crystals of iron(II) complexes with bulky organic ligands. The crystals under study are formed by low-spin or high-spin molecules of Fe(phen)₂(NCS)₂ (phen = 1,10-phenanthroline), Fe(btz)₂(NCS)₂ (btz = 5,5′,6,6′-tetrahydro-4H,4′H-2,2′-bi-1,3-thiazine), and Fe(bpz)₂(bipy) (bpz = dihydrobis(1-pyrazolil)borate, and bipy = 2,2′-bipyridine). All molecular geometries are taken from the X-ray experimental data and assumed to be frozen. The unit cell dimensions and angles, positions of the centers of masses of molecules, and the orientations of molecules corresponding to the minimum energy at 1 atm and 1 GPa are calculated. The optimized crystal structures are in a good agreement with the experimental data. Sources of the residual discrepancies between the calculated and experimental structures are discussed. The intermolecular contributions to the enthalpy of the spin transitions are found to be comparable with its total experimental values. It demonstrates that the method of atom–atom potentials is very useful for modeling molecular crystals undergoing the spin transitions.