Dinuclear Complexes with Predictable Magnetic Properties

When two paramagnetic transition metal ions are present in the same molecular entity, the magnetic properties can be totally different from the sum of the magnetic properties of each ion surrounded by its nearest neighbors. These new properties depend on the nature and the magnitude of the interaction between the metal ions through the bridging ligands. If both ions have an unpaired electron (e.g. Cu2+ ions), then the molecular state of lowest energy is either a spin singlet or a spin triplet. In the former case, the interaction is said to be antiferromagnetic, in the latter case ferromagnetic. The nature and the order of magnitude of the interaction can be engineered by judiciously choosing the interacting metal ions and the bridging and terminal ligands, and, thus, by the symmetry and the delocalization of the orbitals centered on the metal ions and occupied by the unpaired electrons (magnetic orbitals). The first success in this “molecular engineering” of bimetallic compounds was in the synthesis of a Cu2+VO2+ heterobimetallic complex in which the interaction is purely ferro-magnetic. The same strategy could be utilized for designing molecular ferromagnets, one of the major challenges in the area of molecular materials. Another striking result is the possibility of tuning the magnitude of the interaction through a given bridging network by modifying the nature of the terminal ligands, which, in some way, play the role of “adjusting screws”. By careful selection of the bridging and terminal ligands, a very large antiferro-magnetic interaction can be achieved, even if the metal ions are far away from each other. Some sulfur-containing bridges are especially suitable in this respect.