S. V. Fokin

Nonclassical Spin Transitions

AbstractA family of heterospin polymer chain complexes Cu(hfac)2 with pyrazole-substituted nitronyl nitroxides (LR, where R = Me, Et, Pr) of the composition Cu(hfac)2LR was found. In the solid state the complexes undergo low-temperature structural rearrangements accompanied by magnetic effects analogous to spin-crossover. Polymer chains with a “head-to-head” or “head-to-tail” motif in Cu(hfac)2LR are formed as a result of the bridging coordination of LR through the imine N atom of pyrazole and one of the O atoms of the nitronyl nitroxide fragment. Despite the low-temperature structural phase transition, the single crystals retain the quality needed for an X-ray investigation, due to which the compounds may be studied at different temperatures and structural dynamics studies are possible. It was found that the major structural changes mainly occur in the coordination polyhedra, leading to phenomena analogous to spin-crossover. This rearrangement is possible due to the Jahn–Teller nature of the Cu(II) ion, which is responsible for the pulled octahedron structure of the coordination unit. The transition of the coordinated nitroxyl O atoms from the axial (dCu–O ∼ 2.2-2.4 Å) to equatorial (dCu–O ∼ 2.0 Å) position is accompanied by a transition of the exchange interaction in the Cu(II)–O•–N< exchange clusters from weak ferromagnetic (or weak antiferromagnetic) to strong anti-ferromagnetic, compensating the spins of the Cu(II) ion and the nitroxyl fragment. The motif of the polymer chain (“head-to-head” or “head-to-tail”) proved to be inessential to the occurrence of thermally induced spin transitions. In both cases, the shortening of the Cu–O distance in the Cu(II)–O•–N< exchange cluster decreases the effective magnetic moment of the complex by a factor of

First Example of a Reversible Single-Crystal-to-Single-Crystal Polymerization–Depolymerization Accompanied by a Magnetic Anomaly for a Transition-Metal Complex with an Organic Radical

\sqrt 2

C(sp2)‐Coupled Nitronyl Nitroxide and Iminonitroxide Diradicals

, because spin compensation occurs in only half of all coordination units (Cu(hfac)2LPr, Cu(hfac)2LMe, and Cu2(hfac)4LMeLEt). The low-temperature structural rearrangement in Cu(hfac)2LEt is unusual; it leads to longer Cu–O distances in the Cu(II)–O•–N< exchange cluster and to an abrupt transition from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic exchange. At reduced temperatures, the unit cell volume decreased by 5-6% in all of the compounds. The cell parameters are large and so is the absolute value of the decrease (up to 400 Å3). The maximal decrease in the cell dimensions was observed in the directions of the chains and in the directions of the maximal shortening of the Cu...Cu distances. Minimal compression or even extension of the cell took place in the direction of lengthening of the Cu–Ohfac distances. The single crystals of Cu(hfac)2LEt and Cu(hfac)2LPr possess high mechanical stability in repeated cooling-heating cycles.

A Copper–Nitroxide Adduct Exhibiting Separate Single Crystal-to-Single Crystal Polymerization–Depolymerization and Spin Crossover Transitions

Reduction of 2,3-dimethyl-2,3-dinitrobutane with Zn in aqueous ethanol in the presence of NH4Cl affords 2,3-bis(hydroxylamino)-2,3-dimethylbutane together with 2,3-diamino-2,3-dimethylbutane and complex Zn salts. A modified procedure was developed for the synthesis of bishydroxylamine, which involves reduction in a Zn/NH4Cl/THF−H2O system.

Spirocyclic derivatives of nitronyl nitroxides in the design of heterospin Cu II complexes manifesting spin transitions

The reaction of copper(II) hexafluoroacetylacetonate [Cu(hfac)2] with the stable nitronyl nitroxide 2-(1-ethyl-3-methyl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazole-3-oxide-1-oxyl (L(a)) resulted in a paired heterospin complex [[Cu(hfac)2]3(μ-O,N-L(a))2][Cu(hfac)2(O-L(a))2]. The crystals of the compound were found to be capable of a reversible single-crystal-to-single-crystal (SC-SC) transformation initiated by the variation of temperature. At room temperature, the molecular structure of [[Cu(hfac)2]3(μ-O,N-L(a))2][Cu(hfac)2(O-L(a))2] is formed by the alternating fragments of the pair complex. Cooling the crystals of the complex below 225 K caused considerable mutual displacements of adjacent molecules, which ended in a transformation of the molecular structure into a polymer chain structure. A reversible topotactic polymerization-depolymerization coordination reaction actually takes place in the solid during repeated cooling-heating cycles: [[Cu(hfac)2]3(μ-O,N-L(a))2][Cu(hfac)2(O-L(a))2] ⇌ Cu(hfac)2(μ-O,N-L(a))]∞. Polymerization during cooling is the result of the anomalously great shortening of intermolecular distances (from 4.403 Å at 295 K to 2.460 Å at 150 K; Δd = 1.943 Å) between the terminal Cu atoms of the trinuclear fragments {[[Cu(hfac)2]3(μ-O,N-L(a))2]} and the noncoordinated N atoms of the pyrazole rings of the mononuclear {[Cu(hfac)2(O-L(a))2]} fragments. When the low-temperature phase was heated above 270 K, the polymer chain structure was destroyed and the compound was again converted to the pair molecular complex. The specifics of the given SC-SC transformation lies in the fact that the process is accompanied by a magnetic anomaly, because the intracrystalline displacements of molecules lead to a considerable change in the mutual orientation of the paramagnetic centers, which, in turn, causes modulation of the exchange interaction between the odd electrons of the Cu(2+) ion and nitroxide. On the temperature curve of χT, this shows itself as a hysteresis loop. The nontrivial character of the recorded spin transition during the cooling of the sample below 225 K lies in the fact that the magnetic moment abruptly increased. In contrast, heating the sample above 270 K led to a drastic decrease in χT. This behavior of χT is caused by a stepwise change in the character of the exchange interaction in the {>N-(•)O-Cu(2+)-O(•)-N<} fragments. The lengthening of distances between the paramagnetic centers on cooling below 225 K led to a transition from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic exchange and, vice versa, the shortening of distances between the paramagnetic centers during the heating of the heterospin polymer above 270 K led to a transition from ferromagnetic exchange to antiferromagnetic exchange.

Structure and Magnetic Properties of the Stable Nitroxide 2-Cyano-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-3-oxide-2-imidazoline-1-oxyl

Abstract Methods for the synthesis of a new family of nitronylnitroxides, iminonitroxides, and their precursors with 2-hydroxyphenyl or 3-hydroxypyridin-2-yl substituents in the side chain have been developed. Five heterospin chelates of Cu(II) with deprotonated iminonitroxides have been isolated. Their structure and magnetic properties have been studied. In all complexes, ferromagnetic intramolecular exchange interactions take place (J∼40–350 cm−1).

Complexes of metals with paramagnetic 3-Imidazoline schiff bases

Spin-labelled compounds are widely used in chemistry, physics, biology and the materials sciences but the synthesis of stable high-spin organic molecules is still a challenge. We succeeded in synthesising heteroatom analogues of the 1,1,2,3,3-pentamethylenepropane (PMP) diradicals with two nitronyl nitroxide (DR1) and with two iminonitroxide (DR2) fragments linked through the C(sp2) atom of the nitrone group. According to magnetic susceptibility measurements, EPR data and ab initio calculations at the (8,6)CASSCF and (8,6)NEVPT2 levels, DR1 and DR2 have singlet ground states. The singlet–triplet energy splitting (2J) is low (J/k=−7.4 for DR1 and −6.0 K for DR2), which comes from the disjoint nature of these diradicals. The reaction of [Cu(hfac)2] with DR1 gives rise to different heterospin complexes in which the diradical acts as a rigid ligand, retaining its initial conformation. For the [{Cu(hfac)2}2(DR1)(H2O)] complex, sufficiently strong ferromagnetic interactions (J1/k=42.7 and J2/k=14.1 K) between two coordinating CuII ions and DR1 were revealed. In [{Cu(hfac)2}2(DR1)(H2O)][Cu(hfac)2(H2O)], the very strong and antiferromagnetic (J/k=−416.1 K) exchange interaction between one of the coordinating CuII ions and DR1 is caused by the very short equatorial CuO bond length (1.962 Å).

Complexes of CuII with nitroxides and their magnetochemical behavior

A complex cascade of solid-state processes initiated by variation of temperature was found for the heterospin complex [Cu(hfac)2L(Me/Et)] formed in the reaction of copper(II) hexafluoroacetylacetonate [Cu(hfac)2] with stable nitronyl nitroxide 2-(1-methyl-3-ethyl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazole-3-oxide-1-oxyl (L(Me/Et)). The cooling of the compound below 260 K initiated a solid-state chemical reaction, which led to a depolymerization of chains and formation of a pair heterospin complex [Cu(hfac)2L(Me/Et)2][[Cu(hfac)2]3L(Me/Et)2]. Further decrease in temperature below 144 K led to a spin transition accompanied by a drastic decrease in the effective magnetic moment from 2.52 to 2.24 μB. When the compound was heated, the order of effects was reversed: at first, the magnetic moment abruptly increased, and then the molecular fragments of the pair cluster united into polymer chains. Two hysteresis loops correspond to this cascade of temperature-induced structural transformations on the experimental dependence μeff(T): one at high (T↑ = 283 K and T↓ = 260 K) and the other at low (T↑ = 161 K, T↓ = 144 K) temperature. The spin transitions were also recorded for the [[Cu(hfac)2]3L(Bu/Et)2] and [[Cu(hfac)2]5L(Bu/Et)4] molecular complexes, which are models of the trinuclear fragment of the {[Cu(hfac)2]3L(Me/Et)2} pair cluster.