Modulation on the Iron Centers by Selective Synthesis of Organic Ligands with Stereo-Specific Conformations

Advanced fabrication of surface metal-organic complexes with specific coordination configuration and metal centers will facilitate to exploit novel nanomaterials with attractive electronic/magnetic properties. The precise on-surface synthesis provides an appealing strategy for in situ construction of complex organic ligands from simple precursors autonomously. In this paper, distinct organic ligands with stereo-specific conformation are separately synthesized through the well-known dehalogenative coupling. More interestingly, the exo-bent ligands promote the mono-iron chelated complexes with the Fe center significantly decoupled from the surface and of high spin, while the endo-bent ligands lead to bi-iron chelated ones instead with ferromagnetic properties.

Automated summary

In this study, advanced fabrication of surface metal-organic complexes allows for the synthesis of distinct organic ligands with stereo-specific conformation. It was found that exo-bent ligands promote mono-iron chelated complexes with high spin Fe center, while endo-bent ligands lead to bi-iron chelated complexes with ferromagnetic properties.