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A ratiometric thermometer based on a mixed-metal Ln(III) metal-organic framework is reported that has good sensitivity in a wide temperature range from 4 to 290 K and a quantum yield of 22% at room temperature. The sensing mechanism in the europium-doped compound Tb0.95Eu0.05HL (H4L = 5-hydroxy-1,2,4-benzenetricarboxylic acid) is based not only on phonon-assisted energy transfer from Tb(III) to Eu(III) centers, but also on phonon-assisted energy migration between neighboring Tb(III) ions. It shows good performance in a wide temperature range, especially in the range 4-50 K, reaching a sensitivity up to 31% K(-1) at 4 K.

The synthesis and characterization of two Fe-Gd systems based on bpca(-) (Hbpca = bis(2-pyridilcarbonyl)amine) as bridging ligand is presented, taking the systems as a case study for structure-property correlations. Compound 1, [Fe(LS)(II)(μ-bpca)(2)Gd(NO(3))(2)(H(2)O)]NO(3)·2CH(3)NO(2), is a zigzag polymer, incorporating the diamagnetic low spin Fe(LS)(II) ion. The magnetism of 1 is entirely determined by the weak zero field splitting (ZFS) effect on the Gd(III) ion. Compound 2 is a Fe(III)-Gd(III) dinuclear compound, [Fe(LS)(III)(bpca)(μ-bpca)Gd(NO(3))(4)]·4CH(3)NO(2)·CH(3)OH, its magnetism being interpreted as due to the antiferromagnetic coupling between the S(Fe) = ½ and S(Gd) = 7/2 spins, interplayed with the local ZFS on the lanthanide center. In both systems, the d-f assembly is determined by the bridging capabilities of the ambidentate bpca(-) ligand, which binds the d ion by a tridentate moiety with nitrogen donors and the f center by the diketonate side. We propose a spin delocalization and polarization mechanism that rationalizes the factors leading to the antiferromagnetic d-f coupling. Although conceived for compound 2, the scheme can be proposed as a general mechanism. The rationalization of the weak ZFS effects on Gd(III) by multiconfiguration and spin-orbit ab initio calculations allowed us to determine the details of the small but still significant anisotropy of Gd(III) ion in the coordination sites of compounds 1 and 2. The outlined methodologies and generalized conclusions shed new light on the field of gadolinium coordination magnetochemistry.

Magnetic properties of new d-f cyanido-bridged 1D assemblies [RE(pzam)(3)(H(2)O)W(CN)(8)]·H(2)O (RE(III) = Gd, 1, Tb, 2, Dy, 3; pzam = pyrazine-2-carboxamide) were studied by temperature- and field-dependent magnetization measurements. No evidence for 3D interchain magnetic ordering is found above 2 K. Multiconfiguration ab initio calculations and subsequent modeling afforded simulation of the weak zero-field splitting effect in 1 and discussion of magnetic anisotropy in the f units of compounds 2 and 3. A semiquantitative corroboration with the experimental magnetic measurements is presented, performing the simulation of magnetic susceptibility vs temperature and magnetization vs field variation. The association into molecular and supramolecular architectures is analyzed by means of energy decomposition subsequent to the DFT calculations on idealized molecular models extracted from the experimental chain structure.

A combination of density functional theory (DFT) calculations and Mössbauer spectroscopy has been used to determine that the magnetic easy-axis is coincident with its crystallographic c-axis in [Fe(pca)(2)(py)(2)] x py, where pac is the 2-pyrazinecarboxylate ligand. This easy-axis bisects the approximately axial O-Fe-O coordination axes of molecules adjacent to each other along the b-axis. In {[Fe(pca)(2)(H(2)O)] x H(2)O}(n) the easy magnetic axis is not coincident with any of its crystallographic axes nor with the Fe-O(water) coordination axis, but is coincident with one of the Fe...Fe axes in the crystal structure. The DFT calculations, which use the B3LYP functional and the 6-311++G(d,p) basis set, yield s-electron probability densities and electric field gradient tensors for the iron(II) ion that are in excellent agreement with the observed iron-57 Mössbauer spectral isomer shifts and quadrupole interactions. The gas phase results are very similar for calculations based either on the X-ray structures of the two complexes or on their optimized structures; the optimized structures indicate that the iron to ligand bond distances increase in the absence of any solid-state lattice interactions. The results of a normal coordinate vibrational mode analysis of the two optimized structures are compared with the observed infrared spectra.

The synthesis, crystal structure, and magnetic properties of three new manganese(III) clusters are reported, [Mn 3(mu 3-O)(phpzH) 3(MeOH) 3(OAc)] (1), [Mn 3(mu 3-O)(phpzMe) 3(MeOH) 3(OAc)].1.5MeOH (2), and [Mn 3(mu 3-O)(phpzH) 3(MeOH) 4(N 3)].MeOH (3) (H 2phpzH = 3(5)-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-pyrazole and H 2phpzMe = 3(5)-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-5(3)-methylpyrazole). Complexes 1- 3 consist of a triangle of manganese(III) ions with an oxido-center bridge and three ligands, phpzR (2-) (R = H, Me) that form a plane with the metal ions. All the complexes contain the same core with the general formula [Mn 3(mu 3-O)(phpzR) 3] (+). Methanol molecules and additional bridging ligands, that is, acetate (complexes 1 and 2) and azide (complex 3), are at the terminal positions. Temperature dependent magnetic susceptibility studies indicate the presence of predominant antiferromagnetic intramolecular interactions between manganese(III) ions in 1 and 3, while both antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic intramolecular interactions are operative in 2.

Two molecule-based magnets, [Mn(2)(tea)Mo(CN)(7)].H(2)O, 1, and [Mn(2)(tea)Mo(CN)(7)], 2 (tea stands for triethanolamine), formed with the 4d ion building block, [Mo(CN)(7)](4)(-), Mn(II) ions, and an additional ligand, tea, have been prepared and structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray analyses. Whereas 1 is obtained by a self-assembling process in solution, compound 2 is quantitatively formed through a smooth thermal treatment of 1. Their magnetic properties revealed that these compounds exhibit magnetic ordering at T(c) = 75 and 106 K respectively for compounds 1 and 2. The difference for their critical temperature is attributed to the geometry of the coordination sphere of a Mn(II) site found to be square-pyramidal for 1 and tetrahedral for 2.