Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 2, 2026

Stable Aqueous Suspensions of Manganese Ferrite Clusters with Tunable Nanoscale Dimension and Composition
Published on: February 5, 2022
Ferromagnetic manganese "cubes": from PSII to single-molecule magnets
Ross Inglis1, Constantinos C Stoumpos, Alessandro Prescimone
1School of Chemistry, The University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, UK EH9 3JJ.
Abstract:
The reaction of Mn(O₂CMe)₂·2H₂O with Me-saoH₂ (Me-saoH₂ = 2-hydroxyphenylethanone oxime) in MeCN forms the complex [Mn(III)₄(Me-sao)₄(Me-saoH)₄] (1) in good yields. Replacing Me-saoH₂ with Naphth-saoH₂ (Naphth-saoH₂ = 2-hydroxy-1-napthaldoxime) in the presence of CH₃ONa forms the complex [Mn(III)₄(Naphth-sao)₄(Naphth-saoH)₄] (2) in low yields, while the reaction between Mn(ClO₄)₂·6H₂O, Et-saoH₂ (Et-saoH₂= 2-hydroxypropiophenone oxime) and NBu₄OH in MeCN gives the complex [Mn(III)₄(Et-sao)₄(Et-saoH)₄] (3) in moderate yields. All three tetrametallic cages exclusively contain Mn(III) centres arranged in a "cube"-like topology, in which the metal centres are connected by -N-O(oximate) groups. The magnetic properties of 1-3 are near identical, revealing the presence of only ferromagnetic interactions between the metal ions leading to high-spin ground states of S = 8. The complexes display frequency dependent out-of-phase signals in ac susceptibility studies and, in the case of 1 single-molecule magnetism has been observed by means of single-crystal hysteresis loop measurements.
Related Concept Videos
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.
Ferromagnetism
Valence Bond Theory
Diamagnetism
Diamagnetism was discovered by Anton Brugmans in 1778 when he observed that bismuth gets repelled by magnetic fields, thus theorizing that diamagnets get repelled by magnets.
Paramagnetism

