Molecular magnets based on homometallic hexanuclear lanthanide(III) complexes.

The reaction of lanthanide(III) chloride salts (Gd(III), Dy(III), Tb(III), and Ho(III)) with the hetero donor chelating ligand N'-(2-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzylidene)-6-(hydroxymethyl)picolinohydrazide (LH3) in the presence of triethylamine afforded the hexanuclear Ln(III) complexes [{Ln6(L)2(LH)2}(μ3-OH)4][MeOH]p[H2O]q[Cl]4·xH2O·yCH3OH (1, Ln = Gd(III), p = 4, q = 4, x = 8, y = 2; 2, Ln = Dy(III), p = 2, q = 6, x = 8, y = 4; 3, Ln = Tb(III), p = 2, q = 6, x = 10, y = 4; 4, Ln = Ho(III), p = 2, q = 6, x = 10, y = 2). X-ray diffraction studies revealed that these compounds possess a hexanuclear Ln6(OH)4 core consisting of four fused Ln3(OH) subunits. Both static (dc) and dynamic (ac) magnetic properties of 1-4 have been studied. Single-molecule magnetic behavior has been observed in compound 2 with an effective energy barrier and relaxation time pre-exponential parameters of Δ/kB = 46.2 K and τ0 = 2.85 × 10(-7) s, respectively.