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Updated: Feb 17, 2026
Author Spotlight: Magnetometric Characterization of Intermediates in the Solid-State Electrochemistry of Redox-Active Metal-Organic Frameworks
Published on: June 9, 2023
Quantum Spin Liquid from a Three-Dimensional Copper-Oxalate Framework
Bin Zhang1, Peter J Baker2, Yan Zhang3
1Organic Solid Laboratory, CAS Research/Education Center for Excellence in Molecular Sciences, CMS & BNLMS, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
The quantum spin liquid (QSL) state is of great interest in relation to quantum computation and superconductivity and the search for new QSL materials is a current challenge in chemistry. Existing inorganic and molecular QSL compounds have two-dimensional structures, with spins arranged on triangular and kagome lattices, whereas three-dimensional structures with QSL characteristics are rare. In the copper-oxalate framework compound [(C2H5)3NH]2Cu2(C2O4)3, Cu(II) is coordinated with three bisbidentate oxalate bridges to form a three-dimensional (10,3) lattice and this produces a strong antiferromagnetic interaction between Cu2+ (S = 1/2) atoms (θ = -180 K). No long-range ordering (LRO) was observed in either magnetic susceptibility or specific heat measurements down to 2 K. Absence of LRO was further confirmed by μSR measurements down to 60 mK, indicating that it is a gapless QSL with f > 3000. Due to Jahn-Teller distortion and partial dimerization, the effective dimensionality of the magnetic lattice is reduced. This compound nevertheless highlights the great potential for obtaining QSLs of varying dimensionality from metal-organic frameworks.
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