Ground state spin-switching via targeted structural distortion: twisted single-molecule magnets from derivatised salicylaldoximes

The use of derivatised salicylaldoximes in Mn chemistry has led to the isolation of a plethora of beautiful new SMMs ranging in nuclearity from three to eight and with spin ground states as large as S = 12-including a Mn-6 complex with the largest energy barrier to magnetisation reversal yet reported. The deliberate chemically-induced structural distortion of the [ Mn6] molecule allows the isolation of analogous family members displaying remarkably different magnetic properties and this in turn allows for a rare semi-quantitative magneto-structural correlation which enables prediction of the magnetic properties of new family members.