Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 28, 2026

Preparation of Polyoxometalate-based Photo-responsive Membranes for the Photo-activation of Manganese Oxide Catalysts
Published on: August 7, 2018
Magnetic and Photochromic Properties of a Manganese(II) Metal-Zwitterionic Coordination Polymer
Teng Gong1, Xiao Yang1, Qi Sui1
1Shanghai Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Chemical Processes, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University , Shanghai 200062, China.
Abstract:
The solvothermal reaction of Mn(ClO4)2, NaN3, and a rigid viologen-tethered tetracarboxylic acid (1,1'-bis(3,5-dicarboxyphenyl)-4,4'-bipyridinium chloride, [H4L]Cl2) led to a coordination polymer of formula [Mn4(L)(N3)6(H2O)2]n. X-ray analysis revealed a 3D coordination structure. The Mn(II) ions are connected by mixed azide and carboxylate bridges to give 2D layers, which are pillared by the viologen tether of the zwitterionic ligand. Magnetic analyses suggested that the compound features antiferromagnetism and field-induced metamagnetism. The compound also shows photochromic and photomagnetic properties. The long-range magnetic ordering is owed to the spin-canting structure of the Mn(II)-azide-carboxylate layer; the photochromism involves the formation of viologen radicals via photoinduced electron transfer, and the photomagnetism is related to the interactions between the metal ion and the photogenerated radicals. The study demonstrates a strategy for the design of new multifunctional materials with photoresponsive properties.
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...
Valence Bond Theory
Stereoisomerism
Isomers are different chemical species that have the same chemical formula.
Transition metal complexes often exist as geometric isomers, in which the same atoms are connected through the same types of bonds but with differences in their orientation in space. Coordination complexes with two different ligands in the cis and trans positions from a ligand of interest form isomers. For example, the octahedral [Co(NH3)4Cl2]+ ion has two isomers (Figure 1) In the cis...
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...
Radical Oxidation of Allylic and Benzylic Alcohols
Coordination Number and Geometry

