A zigzag Dy4III cluster exhibiting single-molecule magnet, ferroelectric and white-light emitting properties

A novel multifunctional complex [Dy-4(OH)(2)(bpt)(4)(NO3)(6)(EtOH)(2)]center dot EtOH (1, Hbpt = 3,5-bis(pyridin-2-yl)-1,2,4-trizolate) was designed, based on the self-assembly under hydrothermal conditions, and it displays properties of single-molecule magnets (SMMs), white-light emission and ferroelectricity. Studies of static and dynamic magnetism reveal the SMMs behaviour of 1 with energy barrier U-eff = 43.22(8) K. Furthermore, the strategy of a dichromatic mixture of blue (bpt(-)) and yellow (Dy3+) emissive colours was utilized to obtain white-light emission through modulation of the excitation wavelength. This strategy has been worked up to create lanthanide-based fluorescent molecular magnets recently. Moreover, ferroelectricity, a plus feature, was added to the cluster as a result of the polar point group C-2v.