Magnetic and Dielectric Switchings Actuated by the Rotation of the Picoline Ligand in an Iron-Based Dinuclear Phase-Transition Complex

Zheng Tang; Jun Wen; Gui-Lin Zhuang; Rong-Jia Wei; Xiao-Peng Sun; Zi-Shuo Yao; Jun Tao

doi:10.1021/acs.inorgchem.2c03364

Magnetic and Dielectric Switchings Actuated by the Rotation of the Picoline Ligand in an Iron-Based Dinuclear Phase-Transition Complex

Inorg Chem. 2023 Jan 9;62(1):266-274. doi: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.2c03364. Epub 2022 Dec 22.

Authors

Zheng Tang¹, Jun Wen², Gui-Lin Zhuang², Rong-Jia Wei³, Xiao-Peng Sun⁴, Zi-Shuo Yao¹, Jun Tao¹

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Cluster Science of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Liangxiang Campus, Beijing 102488, China.
² Institute of Industrial Catalysis, College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Zhejiang 310023, China.
³ College of Chemistry and Materials Science, and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Functional Supramolecular Coordination Materials and Applications, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China.
⁴ Henan Key Laboratory of Polyoxometalate Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China.

PMID: 36548144
DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.2c03364

Abstract

Multifunctional materials with switchable magnetic and dielectric properties are crucial for the development of memory and sensor devices. Herein, we report a methoxy-bridged dinuclear iron-pyridyl complex [Fe₂(4-picoline)₄(NCS)₄(μ-OCH₃)₂] (1), which shows simultaneous thermal-induced magnetic and dielectric switchings. Within the phase-transition temperature range, both magnetic switching and the dielectric anomaly were detected, in which the thermal hysteresis loops were 23 and 21 K, respectively. Detailed structural analyses revealed that these simultaneous switchings were rooted in the flexible rotatable ligands, which were actuated by readjusting the π-π intermolecular interactions between the pyridine ligands in the trans positions of the metal centers. These results were comprehensively investigated both experimentally and theoretically. This study presents a new guideline to control both the magnetic and dielectric properties of molecular complexes by external stimuli.