In search of 3d/4f-metal single-molecule magnets: Nickel(II)/lanthanide(III) coordination clusters

Polyzou, Christina D.; Efthymiou, Constantinos G.; Escuer, Albert; Cunha-Silva, Luís; Papatriantafyllopoulou, Constantina; Perlepes, Spyros P.

doi:10.1351/PAC-CON-12-09-08

Pure Appl. Chem., 2013, Vol. 85, No. 2, pp. 315-327

http://dx.doi.org/10.1351/PAC-CON-12-09-08

Published online 2013-01-21

In search of 3d/4f-metal single-molecule magnets: Nickel(II)/lanthanide(III) coordination clusters

Christina D. Polyzou¹, Constantinos G. Efthymiou², Albert Escuer³*, Luís Cunha-Silva⁴*, Constantina Papatriantafyllopoulou²* and Spyros P. Perlepes¹*

¹ Department of Chemistry, University of Patras, 265 04 Patras, Greece
² Department of Chemistry, University of Cyprus, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus
³ Departament de Quimica Inorgànica and Institut de Nanociéncia i Nanotecnologia, Universitat de Barcelona (IN2 UB), Av. Diagonal 645, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
⁴ REQUIMTE and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal

Abstract: The importance of 3d/4f-metal cluster chemistry is outlined, and the employment of 2-pyridyl ketone- and 2-pyridyl oxime-based ligands for the preparation of low-nuclearity Ni^II/Ln^III complexes (Ln = lanthanide) is reviewed. The synthetic utility of the “metal complexes as ligands” and “one-pot” approaches is critically discussed. The small nuclearity of the products permits the in-depth analysis of their magnetic properties.