Chiral molecular 4f qubits by post functionalization

Abstract

We herein demonstrate the synthesis of a pair of enantiomerically pure YbIII complexes by post-functionalisation of the parent YbIII complex via condensation with an enantiomerically pure chiral amine. The enantiomeric pair is structurally characterised by single crystal and powder X-ray diffraction, showing that it crystalises in the P212121 Sohncke space group with Flack parameters close to zero, which confirms their enantiopurity. Circular Dichroism (CD) and absorption spectroscopies in the NIR reveal sharp 2F7/22F5/2 f–f transitions, with gabs values up to 0.07, indicating a chiral environment for the ytterbium centre. Furthermore, a dynamic mechanism with mixing of ligand states is shown to contribute to the CD intensity. X-band pulse Electron Paramagnetic Resonance spectroscopy, on a magnetically dilute single crystal containing 1% of YbIII complexes within the isostructural YIII diamagnetic host, reveals a phase memory time, Tm, of the electronic spin of 600 ns and that it can be coherently manipulated by microwave pulses, as evidenced by Rabi nutations.

Graphical abstract: Chiral molecular 4f qubits by post functionalization

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Research Article
Submitted
18 Apr 2025
Accepted
22 Aug 2025
First published
01 Sep 2025
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Inorg. Chem. Front., 2025, Advance Article

Chiral molecular 4f qubits by post functionalization

S. H. Hansen, C. D. Buch, B. E. Bode and S. Piligkos, Inorg. Chem. Front., 2025, Advance Article , DOI: 10.1039/D5QI00977D

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements