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Updated: Jul 21, 2026

Angle-resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy At Ultra-low Temperatures
Published on: October 9, 2012
Proof of large positive zero-field splitting in a Ru2 5+ paddlewheel
Wei-Zhong Chen1, F Albert Cotton, Naresh S Dalal
1Department of Chemistry, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida 33146, USA.
Abstract:
We present the synthesis, as well as the structural and magnetic characterization, of [Ru2(D(3,5-Cl2Ph)F)4Cl(0.5H2O)].C6H14 (D(3,5-Cl2Ph)F = N,N'-di(3,5-dichlorophenyl)formamidinate), a Ru2(5+) compound having a 4B(2u) ground state derived from a sigma2pi4delta2pi2delta electron configuration. The persistence of this configuration from 27 to 300 K is shown by the invariance of the Ru-Ru distance. Orientation-dependent magnetic susceptibility (chiT) and magnetization (M(H)) data are in accord with a spin quartet ground state with large magnetocrystalline anisotropy associated with a large axial zero-field splitting (D) parameter. Theoretical fits to chiT and M(H) plots yielded D/kB = +114 K, implying an S = +/-1/2 Kramers doublet ground state at low temperature. Single-crystal and powder EPR data are consistent with this result, as the only observed transition is between the M(s) = +/1/2 Zeeman levels. The g values are g(perpendicular) = 2.182, g(parallel) = 1.970, and D = 79.8 cm(-1). The totality of the results demands D >> 0.
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