Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 19, 2026

Chemical Vapor Deposition of an Organic Magnet, Vanadium Tetracyanoethylene
Published on: July 3, 2015
Encapsulation controlled single molecule magnetism in tetrathiafulvalene-capped cyanide-bridged cubes
Kiyotaka Mitsumoto1, Hiroyuki Nishikawa, Graham N Newton
1Graduate School of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tennodai 1-1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8571, Japan.
Abstract:
New TTF-based (TTF = tetrathiafulvalene) ligands, L1 and L2 (L1 = α-(4'-methyl-4,5-ethylenedithiotetrathiafulvalene-5'-thio)-α'-[tris-2,2,2-(1-pyrazolyl)ethoxy]-p-xylene and L2 = α-(4'-methyl-4,5-dimethylthiotetrathiafulvalene-5'-thio)-α'-[tris-2,2,2-(1-pyrazolyl)ethoxy]-p-xylene), possessing tris-pyrazolyl coordination sites, were synthesized. The reactions of Ni(BF(4))(2)·6H(2)O with the TTF-ligands (L1 and L2), n-Bu(4)N[Fe(CN)(3)(tp or pztp)] (tp = hydrotris(pyrazol-1-yl)borate and pztp = tetrakis(pyrazol-1-yl)borate) in the presence of additional counter ions afforded two cyanide-bridged octanuclear complexes: [Fe(III)(4)Ni(II)(4)(CN)(12)(pztp)(4)(L1)(4)](BF(4))(4) (1) and [Fe(III)(4)Ni(II)(4)(CN)(12)(pztp)(4)(L2)(4)](PF(6))(4) (2). Using a similar procedure to that employed in the synthesis of complex 2, with the addition of sodium tetraphenylborate, yielded a two-electron-reduced compound, Na[Fe(III)(2)Fe(II)(2)Ni(II)(4)(CN)(12)(tp)(4)(L2)(4)](BF(4))(3) (3), in which a sodium ion was encapsulated by the cube. The host-guest complex 3 showed enhanced redox behaviour and while magnetic susceptibility measurements revealed ferromagnetic interactions to be operative in all three complexes, the cation encapsulation behaviour of 3 led it to exhibit single molecule magnet-type 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.
Crystal Field Theory - Tetrahedral and Square Planar Complexes
Crystal field theory (CFT) is applicable to molecules in geometries other than octahedral. In octahedral complexes, the lobes of the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals point directly at the ligands. For tetrahedral complexes, the d orbitals remain in place, but with only four ligands located between the axes. None of the orbitals points directly at the tetrahedral ligands. However, the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals (along the Cartesian axes) overlap with the ligands less than the dxy,...
Aromatic Hydrocarbon Cations: Structural Overview
Removing one hydrogen from the intervening CH2 group with both...
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...
VSEPR Theory and the Effect of Lone Pairs

