Magnetic anisotropy and slow magnetic relaxation processes of cobalt(ii)-pseudohalide complexes

Three mononuclear six-coordinate Co(ii)-pseudohalide complexes [Co(L)X2] with two N-donor pseudohalido coligands occupying the cis-positions (X = NCS- (1), NCSe- (2) or N(CN)2- (3)), and a five-coordinate complex [Co(L)(NCO)][B(C6H5)4] (4) [L = 1,4,7,10-tetramethyl-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane (12-TMC)] have been prepared and structurally characterized. Easy-plane magnetic anisotropy for 1-3 and easy-axis anisotropy for 4 were revealed via the analyses of the direct-current magnetic data, high-frequency and -field EPR (HFEPR) spectra and ab initio theoretical calculations. They display slow magnetic relaxations under an external applied dc field. Typically, two slow relaxation processes were found in 1 and 2 while only one relaxation process occurs in 3 and 4. The Raman-like mechanism is found to be dominant in the studied temperature range in 1. For 2-4, the Raman process is dominant in the low temperature region, while the Orbach mechanism dominates in the high temperature range.