Synthesis, crystal structure and magnetic properties of a dinuclear dysprosium single-molecule magnet.

To seek novel dysprosium based single-molecule magnets, a dinuclear dysprosium complex, namely [Dy 2 (L) 2 (DBM) 2 (DMF) 2 ]·2DMF ( 1 ) was successfully obtained by employing tridentate Schiff base ligand (where H 2 L = 2-hydroxy-N′’-(2-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzylidene) benzohydrazide), HDBM = dibenzoylmethane, DMF = dimethylformamide). Single-crystal X-ray structural analysis reveals that the key feature of 1 is neutral dinuclear complex, in which two Dy(III) ions with eight-coordinated environment are bridged by two phenoxido oxygen atoms from two Schiff base ligands. Interestingly, complex 1 could be regarded as the structurally related derivatives to our previous reported complex of [Dy 2 (L) 2 (DBM) 2 (DMF) 2 ] ( 1a ) but adding two guest DMF solvents. More importantly, the energy barrier to magnetic relaxation of 1 is slightly higher, with a value of 33 K, when compared to the corresponding complex 1a of 24 K, which provides a good example towards regulating magnetization dynamics in dinuclear dysprosium (III) single-molecule magnets by guest solvent molecules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]