Published on Web 07/11/2007

A Bell-Shaped Mn11Gd2 Single-Molecule Magnet

Valeriu M. Mereacre,† Ayuk M. Ako,† Rodolphe Clérac,‡ Wolfgang Wernsdorfer,§ George Filoti,#
Juan Bartolomé,# Christopher E. Anson,† and Annie K. Powell*,†
Institut für Anorganische Chemie der UniVersität Karlsruhe, D-76128 Karlsruhe, Germany, UniVersité Bordeaux 1,
CNRS, Centre de Recherche Paul PascalsUPR8641, 115 aVenue du Dr. Albert Schweitzer, 33600 Pessac, France,
Institut NéelsCNRS, 38042 Grenoble Cedex 9, France, and Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Aragon,
Ciuda UniVersitaria, 50009-Zaragoza, Spain
Received February 14, 2007; E-mail: powell@aoc.uni-karlsruhe.de

The synthesis of transition-metal clusters with unusual magnetic

properties has become an area of intense research activity since
the discovery of single-molecule magnets (SMMs).1 The quest for
new SMMs displaying high blocking temperatures has focused
mainly on the use of paramagnetic 3d metal ions.2-5 SMM behavior
results from the favorable arrangement of metal ions with single
ion anisotropy in a high-ground-spin state molecule, and some
recent synthetic efforts have turned attention to combining 3d and
4f ions in complexes to enhance both spin and anisotropy. Recent
success in synthesizing mixed transition metal and lanthanide
SMMs presenting various core topologies includes Cu2Tb26 and
Mn6Dy67, which have been described as SMMs on the observation
of frequency-dependent out-of-phase ac signals, and Mn11Dy48,
Mn2Dy29, Fe2Dy210, and Fe2Ho210, which additionally show hys-
teresis loops in the magnetization.
Recently we reported on triangular dysprosium compounds
showing SMM behavior of thermally excited spin states11 which
has attracted us to exploring mixed d/f compounds as a means of
enhancing anisotropy and/or spin state. Herein we report an efficient
procedure toward the isolation of high-nuclearity heterometallic
complexes using a preformed hexanuclear Mn complex, [MnIII2-
MnII4O2(piv)10(4-Me-py)2.5(pivH)1.5]12 (1) (pivH ) tBuCO2H), as
a source of MnII/III ions. Reaction of 1 with Gd(NO3)3‚6H2O in the
presence of 2-furan-carboxylic acid (fcaH) in CH3CN results in
the formation of the high-nuclearity complex [MnIII9MnII2Gd2(O)8-
(OH)2(piv)10.6(fca)6.4(NO3)2(H2O)]‚13CH3CN‚H2O (2‚13MeCN‚
H2O).13
The Mn11Gd2 aggregate 2 crystallizes14 in the triclinic space
group P1h, and its molecular structure is shown in Figure 1. The
oxidation states of the Mn centers were determined by bond-valence
Figure 1. Molecular structure of 2 (above) and its core (below). Disorder
sum (BVS) calculations,15 with Mn(1)-Mn(9) assigned as MnIII
and organic H-atoms omitted for clarity: Gd, green; MnIII, purple; MnII,
and Mn(10) and Mn(11) as MnII. The assignments of O(10) as pink; O, red; N, blue; C, gray.
(µ3-O)2- and of O(2) and O(3) as (µ3-OH)- were also confirmed
by BVS calculations; the H-atoms on O(2) and O(3) could be coordinate and hangs below the rim of the bell. It is connected to
located and refined. The core of the complex 2 can be described the other Gd and four of the MnIII atoms through one (µ4-O) and
as bell-shaped. The MnIII and MnII centers form the shell of the the two (µ3-OH) bridges, and two oxygen atoms from two (µ3-
bell, with Mn(9) at the apex, Mn(5), Mn(8), Mn(10), and Mn(11) carboxylate) bridges. Its coordination sphere is completed by two
at the shoulder of the bell, and the remaining six MnIII centers chelating nitrate ions. The Mn centers all have octahedral coordina-
forming the rim of the bell. The two Gd centers can be thought of tion geometries except for Mn(6), which is square-pyramidal, with
as forming the bell’s clapper, and since the Gd‚‚‚Gd vector is the MnIII all showing the expected Jahn-Teller distortions. Of the
inclined with respect to the axis of the bell, this gives the impression 17 carboxylate ligands (ten pivalate, six furoate, and one that is a
that the bell is ringing. Gd(1) is ten-coordinate and is connected to disordered superposition), the unusual (µ4,η2,η2) bridging mode is
each of the eleven Mn atoms through the six (µ4-O), one (µ3-O), seen for one furoate and one pivalate ligand. In addition to these
and two (µ3-OH) bridges. Its coordination polyhedron may be best µ4-bridging carboxylates, four of the furoates adopt a (µ3, η2, η1)
described as a bicapped square antiprism. The second Gd is nine- triply bridging mode, while the sixth furoate and all the remaining
pivalates form simple bridges between two metal centers. In other
† Universität Karlsruhe. words, five of the six furoates bridge between three or four metal
‡ Université Bordeaux 1; CNRS, Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal.
§ Institut Néel - CNRS.
centers, whereas all but one of the pivalates adopt a simple µ2-
# Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Aragon. bridging mode. The MnIII Jahn-Teller axes have an irregular
9248 9 J. AM. CHEM. SOC. 2007, 129, 9248-9249 10.1021/ja071073m CCC: $37.00 © 2007 American Chemical Society
 COMMUNICATIONS

the temperature lowered to a chosen value, the field switched off,

and the decay monitored with time. The data were scaled in a single
master curve to construct the Arrhenius plot, and the fit of the
thermally activated region above ∼0.5 K gave τ0 ) 2 × 10-12 s
and an effective barrier ∆eff ) 18.4 K, which is the highest value
reported so far for 3d-4f SMMs.8,9 Given the lack of obvious
intermolecular interactions, the relatively low value of τ0 compared
with other 3d-4f SMMs might be the result of the presence of a
higher spin state. Below ∼0.16 K, the relaxation time becomes
essentially temperature-independent, consistent with the purely
quantum regime where QTM is only via the lowest energy (ms
levels. Probably the Jahn-Teller distortions of the MnIII centers
Figure 2. Plots of the out-of-phase (χ′′) ac susceptibility signals versus make the major contribution to the anisotropy with the MnII and
temperature for complex 2 with an applied 3 Oe ac field in zero dc field.
GdIII centers contributing to the spin.
In conclusion, this tridecanuclear manganese-lanthanide com-
plex has an unusual topology and SMM properties. The synthetic
method allows for the assembly of related materials.
Acknowledgment. We thank MAGMANet (NMP3-CT-2005-
515767), Bordeaux 1 University, the CNRS, the Region Aquitaine,
and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (V.M.).
Supporting Information Available: Crystallographic details in CIF
format, experimental details, and magnetic data. This material is
available free of charge via the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org.

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J. AM. CHEM. SOC. 9 VOL. 129, NO. 30, 2007 9249