Tetraanionic arachno-Carboranyl Ligand Imparts Strong Axiality to Terbium(III) Single-Molecule Magnets

A family of fully sandwiched arachno-lanthanacarborane complexes formulated as {eta(6)-[mu-1,2-[o-C6H4(CH2)(2)]-1,2-C2B10H10](2)Ln}{Li-5(THF)(10)} (Ln =Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Y) is successfully synthesized, where the carbons-adjacent carboranyl ligand (arachno-R-2-C2B10H104-) bears four negative charges and coordinates to the central lanthanide ions using the hexagonal eta(C2B4)-C-6 face. Thus, the central lanthanide cations are pseudo-twelve-coordinate and have an approximate pseudo-D-6h symmetry or hexagonal-prismatic geometry. As the crystal field effect imparted by this geometry is still unknown, we thoroughly investigated the magnetic properties of this series of complexes and found that the crystal field imposed by this ligand causes a relation of Tb > Dy > Ho > Er for the energy gaps between the ground and the first excited states, which is of striking resemblance to the ferrocenophane and phthalocyanine ligands although the latter two ligands give disparate local coordination geometries. Moreover, the effective energy barrier to magnetization reversal of 445(10) K, the observable hysteresis loop up to 4 K and the relaxation time of the yttrium-diluted sample reaching 193(17) seconds at 2 K under an optimized field for the Tb analogue of this family of arachno-lanthanacarborane complexes, render a new benchmark for Tb3+-based single-molecule magnets.

Automated summary

In this study, a family of fully sandwiched arachno-lanthanacarborane complexes were successfully synthesized and their magnetic properties were thoroughly investigated. It was found that the crystal field effect imposed by the ligand influences the energy gaps between ground and excited states in the order of Tb > Dy > Ho > Er. Furthermore, the Tb analogue of this complex family exhibits a high energy barrier to magnetization reversal, observable hysteresis loop up to 4 K, and a relaxation time of 193(17) seconds at 2 K, which sets a new benchmark for Tb3+-based single-molecule magnets.