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Updated: Jul 15, 2026

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Published on: June 7, 2018
Toward the control of the magnetic anisotropy of Fe(II) cubes: a DFT study
Jordi Ribas-Arino1, Tunna Baruah, Mark R Pederson
1Departament de Química Física, Facultat de Química i Centre Especial de Recerca en Química Teórica, Parc Científic, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 647, Barcelona 08028, Spain. jribasjr@yahoo.es
Abstract:
We present the results of our all-electron density-functional calculations on the magnetic anisotropy of the [Fe4(sap)4(MeOH)4] and [Fe4(sae)4(MeOH)4] polynuclear complexes. Our calculations, which predict that only the second complex is a single-molecule magnet (with a magnetic anisotropy energy barrier of 5.6 K), are in qualitative agreement with the experimental data. The analysis of the projected anisotropies of each Fe(II) ion, together with a study of the variation of the D value as a function of several geometrical parameters, allows us to qualitatively understand the different magnetic behaviors of both complexes. In addition to this, we also present a simple rule based on the analysis of the molecular orbitals of the system that allows us to predict how to enhance (by a factor of 6, approximately) the magnetic anisotropy barrier of these systems. Specifically, we will show that, for high-spin Fe(II) ions, the local easy axis of magnetization is perpendicular to the plane defined by the Fe(II)-d orbital which is doubly occupied. If similar rules were found for other metal ions, rational synthetic strategies to control magnetic anisotropy could be established.
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