Doubly TEMPO-coordinated gadolinium(III), lanthanum(III), and yttrium(III) complexes. Strong superexchange coupling across rare earth ions.

We prepared crystalline [RE(III)(hfac)3(TEMPO)2] (RE = Gd, La, Y), where TEMPO and hfac stand for 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-oxyl and 1,1,1,5,5,5-hexafluoropentane-2,4-dionate, respectively. The X-ray crystal structure of TEMPO-coordinated RE compounds was determined for the first time. The Gd and Y analogues are isomorphous, and the La derivative has a similar molecular skeleton. The Gd-O(TEMPO) bond lengths were 2.322(3) and 2.354(3) Å with the O-Gd-O angle of 140.36(11)°. The magnetic study clarified that [Gd(hfac)3(TEMPO)2] behaved as a ground Stotal = 7/2 species. The La and Y analogues showed the superexchange interactions across the diamagnetic ions with 2JTEMPO1-TEMPO2/kB = -14.9(1) and -49.8(2) K, respectively. Assuming the presence of a similar interaction like the Y derivative, the Gd-TEMPO exchange couplings are estimated with 2JGd-TEMPO/kB = -12.9(5) and +8.0(6) K.