Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 11, 2026

Magnetometric Characterization of Intermediates in the Solid-State Electrochemistry of Redox-Active Metal-Organic Frameworks
Published on: June 9, 2023
Mixed valency and magnetism in cyanometallates and Prussian blue analogues
J M Herrera1, A Bachschmidt, F Villain
1Laboratoire de chimie inorganique et matériaux moléculaires, CNRS Unit 7071, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France.
Abstract:
Prussian blue (PB) is a well-known archetype of mixed valency systems. In magnetic PB analogues {CxAy[B(CN)6]z}.nH2O (C alkali cation, A and B transition metal ions) and other metallic cyanometallates {Cx(AL)y[B(CN)8]z}.nH2O (L ligand), the presence of two valency states in the solid (either A-B, or A-A' or B-B') is crucial to get original magnetic properties: tunable high Curie temperature magnets; photomagnetic magnets; or photomagnetic high-spin molecules. We focus on a few mixed valency pairs: V(II)/V(III)/V(IV); Cr(II)/Cr(III); Fe(II)-Fe(III); Co(II)-Co(III); Cu(I)-Cu(II); and Mo(IV)/Mo(V), and discuss: (i) the control of the degree of mixed valency during the synthesis, (ii) the importance of mixed valency on the local and long-range structure and on the local and macroscopic magnetization, and (iii) the crucial role of the cyanide ligand to get these original systems and properties.
Related Concept Videos
Valence Bond Theory
Colors and Magnetism
When atoms or molecules absorb light at the proper frequency, their electrons are excited to higher-energy orbitals. For many main group atoms and molecules, the absorbed photons are in the ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum, which cannot be detected by the human eye. For coordination compounds, the energy difference between the d orbitals often allows photons in the visible range to be absorbed and emitted, which is seen as colors by the human eye.
Structural Isomerism
Isomers are different chemical species that have the same chemical formula. Structural isomerism of coordination compounds can be divided into two subcategories, the linkage isomers and coordination-sphere isomers.
Linkage isomers occur when the coordination compound contains a ligand that can bind to the transition metal center through two different atoms. For example, the CN− ligand can bind through the carbon atom or through the nitrogen atom. Similarly, SCN− can be...
Metal-Ligand Bonds
In these complexes, transition metals form coordinate covalent bonds, a kind of Lewis acid-base interaction in which both of the electrons in the bond are contributed by a donor (Lewis base) to an electron acceptor (Lewis acid). The Lewis acid in...
Crystal Field Theory - Octahedral Complexes
To explain the observed behavior of transition metal complexes (such as colors), a model involving electrostatic interactions between the electrons from the ligands and the electrons in the unhybridized d orbitals of the central metal atom has been developed. This electrostatic model is crystal field theory (CFT). It helps to understand, interpret, and predict the colors, magnetic behavior, and some structures of coordination compounds of transition metals.
CFT focuses on...
Properties of Organometallic Compounds

