Scientists have long employed lanthanide elements in the design of materials with extraordinary magnetic properties, including the strongest magnets known, SmCo5 and Nd2Fe14B. The properties of these materials are largely a product of fine-tuning the interaction between the lanthanide ion and the crystal lattice. Recently, synthetic chemists have begun to utilize lanthanide elements for the construction of single-molecule magnets, resulting in a rapid expansion of the field. The desirable magnetic characteristics of the lanthanides are contingent upon the interaction between the single-ion electron density and the crystal field environment in which it is placed. Taking advantage of this interaction, new approaches for synthesizing single-molecules magnets based upon lanthanide ions will be presented. Focus will be on recent work involving: (i) high-temperature magnetic blocking and magneto-structural correlations in lanthanide(II) metallocene and lanthanide(III) metallocenium complexes, (ii) the synthesis and characterization of radical-bridged dilanthanide complexes exhibiting strong magnetic exchange and high blocking temperatures, and (iii) realization of double-exchange and very large coercivities in mixed-valence dilanthanide complexes with metal-metal bonding.

Lanthanide-based single-molecule magnets with high blocking temperatures

ACS Spring 2022

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