Fluorinated heterometallic β-diketonates as volatile single-source precursors for the synthesis of low-valent mixed-metal fluorides.

Hexafluoroacetylacetonates that contain lead and divalent first-row transition metals, PbM(hfac)(4) (M = Ni (1), Co (2), Mn (3), Fe (4), and Zn (5)), have been synthesized. Their heterometallic structures are held together by strong Lewis acid-base interactions between metal atoms and diketonate ligands acting in chelating-bridging fashion. Compounds 1-5 are highly volatile and decompose below 350 °C. Fluorinated heterometallic β-diketonates have been used for the first time as volatile single-source precursors for the preparation of mixed-metal fluorides. Complex fluorides of composition Pb(2)MF(6) have been obtained by decomposition of 1-5 in a two-zone furnace under low-pressure nitrogen flow. Lead-transition metal fluorides conform to orthorhombically distorted Aurivillius-type structure with layers of corner-sharing [MF(6)] octahedra separated by α-PbO-type (Pb(2)F(2)) blocks. Pb(2)NiF(6) and Pb(2)CoF(6) were found to exhibit magnetic ordering below 80 and 43 K, respectively. The ordering is antiferromagnetic, with a weak, uncompensated moment due to the canting of spins. The Pb(2)MF(6) fluorides represent a new class of prospective magnetoelectric materials combining transition metals and lone-pair main-group cations.