An [FeIII34] Molecular Metal Oxide

30 August 2019, Version 1

Abstract

The dissolution of anhydrous iron bromide in a mixture of pyridine and acetonitrile, in the presence of an organic amine, results in the formation of an [Fe34] metal oxide molecule, structurally characterized by alternate layers of tetrahedral and octahedral Fe(III) ions connected by oxide and hydroxide ions. The outer shell of the cage is capped by a combination of pyridine molecules and bromide ions. Magnetic data, measured at temperatures as low as 0.4 K and fields up to 35 T, reveal competing antiferromagnetic exchange interactions; DFT calculations showing that the magnitudes of the coupling constants are highly dependent on both the Fe-O-Fe angles and Fe-O distances. The simplicity of the synthetic methodology, and the structural similarity between [Fe34], iron oxides, previous Fe(III)-oxo cages, and polyoxometalates (POMs), hints that much larger, molecular Fe(III) oxides can be made.

Keywords

Molecular Magnetism
Fe(III) complexes
X-ray diffraction
Magnetometry
Heat capacity
EPR
DFT

Comments

Comments are not moderated before they are posted, but they can be removed by the site moderators if they are found to be in contravention of our Commenting Policy [opens in a new tab] - please read this policy before you post. Comments should be used for scholarly discussion of the content in question. You can find more information about how to use the commenting feature here [opens in a new tab] .
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy [opens in a new tab] and Terms of Service [opens in a new tab] apply.